Through the Ice
by Ayuki
Summary: Finished. Chapters sliced for easy reading. Just a small memento such as a fuchsia hat can mean so much to one person named Minamoto Kouji. And sometimes, it is weird how two people will meet up again. Kozumi.
1. Part 1: Minor Meeting

_**Part One: Minor Meeting**_

**Chapter 1: Thinking Back to that Day**

* * *

Some time ago, about seven years; Orimoto Izumi was staring mindlessly out the window and, gazing at the trees and scenery race by. Izumi was overwhelmed with all the hardships surrounding her. Everyone around her hated her, just because they didn't know her very well. No one ever bother to even socialize with her or acknowledge her existence. She was criticized at least once an hour, just because she was different. But mostly, her main issue was Ryusaki Miyamoto. Miyamoto would never miss a chance to come around talk badly about Izumi, even in front of her face. Izumi was doing her best to ignore her, because she believed that even the meanest person had a good heart, deep down inside. She stared at her snow gear, bored out of her life. The bus ride to Iwate-san Mountains was a four-hour drive and it had unfortunately, only been forty-five minutes. Izumi was so bored she decided to take out her work and books to get her mind off the long wait and Miyamoto. As she took the book out of her textbook and papers, it dropped in the middle of the aisle; it weighed fifteen pounds, in her opinion. A mysterious, yet hauntingly familiar figure boy sat across from her and picked it up and handed it back to her. Izumi smiled and said, 

"Thanks…"

The boy nodded and looked out the window, just like she was a couple of minutes ago. Izumi stared at her papers and books, all unorganized. She looked up. She began to think,

"I am Orimoto Izumi! I can get through this…I think… even if Miyamoto-san is a big, conceited, mean girl. Maybe I should talk to that guy who picked up my stuff for me, even I felt stupid, being clumsy and all… I mean, I have no one else to talk to."

Izumi turned her head to Kouji and was about to open her mouth to say a few words, but then Miyamoto appeared suddenly in her face.

"Hi, Izumi!" Miyamoto said in a sarcastic, happy tone.

"Uhh…hi…Miyamoto…" Izumi gritted through her teeth.

"What's this book you are reading?" Miyamoto pointed out.

Miyamoto's voice was beginning to annoy Izumi.

"A book for class," Izumi muttered.

"What book? A book based on how to make some friends?" Miyamoto replied callously, joining back to her ridiculous clique of friends that consisted of at least eight other girls. There was one girl in the clique who was silent and not laughing with her group, but Izumi didn't notice. Izumi groaned. She was really depressed. It was a chilly morning and she hadn't even made even one friend or at least, an acquaintance. She stuffed her mess of papers and books into her knapsack and slammed it onto the empty side of her seat. The seats were meant for two, but Izumi was alone. She stared at the gum-filled bus floor and started fidgeting with her fuchsia colored gloves, thinking of Italy, as she always did. She glanced at her watch. Only ten minutes passed. Izumi buried her head in her hands and thought,

"Will this never end?"

Then a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Don't mind them," said the boy who picked up her book for her earlier, in a dark, low voice.

Izumi immediately turned her head.

"What?"

"Never mind…"

"No, really, what did you say?"

"It's not that important."

"Please, tell me…"

Neither Izumi nor the boy knew why they were talking to each other. Nor did they know each other that well. Or each other's names.

The boy sighed. "I said, don't mind Miyamoto and what she says or does to you."

"Oh, thanks," she said in a cheerful, yet unhappy tone. Then Izumi realized that she didn't know his name. Sure, she saw him in class, but Izumi didn't socialize with anyone once she realized she wasn't wanted by Miyamoto's crowd.

"What's your name?" asked Izumi.

"Why?" he asked quietly.

"Because, I don't know anyone else in the class," Izumi said in a downcast tone.

"Minamoto Kouji," he said darkly.

"Minamoto Kouji? I thought Miyamoto has a crush on you or something…"

"Well, not in much that I care about her. She's an annoying girl who has only air in her head. Anyway, how did you know?"

"Miyamoto talks real loud so I can hear her for about two miles away," Izumi explained, as she chuckled.

Kouji didn't smile and only thought, "What a dumb joke." Then a question came to him.

"I don't know your name," he said quietly.

"Oh! Orimoto Izumi!"

"Well, Orimoto-san," Kouji said as he held out his hand to shake her hand. Izumi let her hand out…as Miyamoto busted in.

"Hey, Izumi! Don't socialize with Kouji!" said Miyamoto in a harsh tone, pushing Izumi's hand back down, which hurt.

"And what is wrong with that, Miyamoto?" Kouji said in a serious tone, standing up for Izumi, seeing that she couldn't defend herself.

"Izumi is a stupid low-life! She thinks she's so cool just because she came from some country we don't even care about! Plus her color choice is horrible!" Miyamoto declared to the class. Everyone began laughing hysterically. Izumi felt completely tiny and wanted to hide under a hole. Any hole.

"Why, you!" Kouji snarled.

Just then Izumi stood up, slapping Miyamoto square on the cheek. Then she quickly grabbed one of her heavy textbooks out of her knapsack and threatened her with it saying,

"Here's some book on how to make friends for you!"

Miyamoto screamed incredibly loud; the bus making a sharp stop for everyone to motion forward from their seats. Someone put their hand on Izumi's shoulder.

"Huh?" Izumi's rage dissipated and she dropped her book on the floor.

"Orimoto Izumi! Please come to the front!"

It was her teacher, Yanagimoto-sensei.

"Yes, Yanagimoto-sensei…" she said submissively.

Miyamoto faked being "injured" and said,

"Kouji, help me up…"

"…No," Kouji replied quietly, and very darkly. He picked up Izumi's book and stared at her trudging to the front, and thought,

"She shouldn't have done that."


	2. Chapter 2: In Trouble

**Chapter 2: In Trouble**

Izumi walked to the front, where Yanagimoto-sensei and the driver were furious at her. The driver, Mr. Hoshino really didn't know her but he was still mad for having to stop. While Izumi was at the front, Miyamoto looked into Izumi's knapsack and took out some items just for the fun of it and set it at the back of the bus. She and her friends snickered in their seats.

"Sit!" Yanagimoto-sensei ordered. Izumi obeyed and immediately stared at the floor and at her lavender shoes.

"Just what is your problem, Orimoto? You go off and hurt Miyamoto like that? She screamed so shrillingly that it startled Mr. Hoshino and slammed the brakes! Look at the trouble you caused! They didn't teach you anything in that country, did they? Now, I want you to apologize to Mr. Hoshino. Then I want you to stay in your seat, and don't get out of your seat. Also, when we get back, I want you to write an apology letter to the class and Miyamoto. I want you to give Miyamoto a verbal apology right now. I'm going to be watching you," Yanagimoto-sensei said. "Now go back to your seat."

"Yes, Yanagimoto-sensei," she said very submissively.

"I didn't hear you, Orimoto!"

"Yes, Yanagimoto-sensei!" she said only slightly louder. Izumi marched back to her seat towards Miyamoto and her friends, and Miyamoto, acting like she was seriously injured. As Izumi was almost to her seat, Yanagimoto-sensei also said "Oh, yes, I'm writing a letter to your parents."

Izumi was even more concerned as she approached Miyamoto.

"I'm…s...s-s-orry, Miyamoto," she said through her teeth. She walked heavily to her seat and plopped down, ready to cry, but she tried her hardest to hold her feelings in. She began to think,

"Now everyone hates me and sees me as a monster. I hate it in Jiyuugaoka School. I haven't even made any friends for how many months! I might as well leave for all they care…" she said, droned into her sadness as she buried her face in her lavender gloves. Then she began to hear the squawking of Miyamoto's voice.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so lucky you guys were here! I have some friends to protect me…unlike some people…" she sneered, implying Izumi, obviously.

Izumi ignored her the best she could, but it was no use. Then she heard Yanagimoto-sensei and Mr. Hoshino.

"You really should get that girl put somewhere else," said Mr. Hoshino, while driving.

"I know" replied Yanagimoto-sensei.

It was more than Izumi could handle. She put her elbow on the window sill and concealed her head as crystal water drops began fall from her eyes and splash onto her fuchsia-colored snow gear pants. Her thoughts escaped her, as she wanted it to. No one understood her. She loved her country, Japan. No one could see it. Everyone thought she was different and a troublemaker. Kouji was watching her and noticed the drops falling onto her pants. He reached into his black pants and took out a tissue and held it our for Izumi. A few seconds later, she wiped the tears away from her eyes, then just noticed the tissue in front of her face.

"Thank you," she said faintly while wiping her eyes.

Kouji nodded and went back to his seat across from her.


	3. Chapter 3: Almost There

**Chapter 3: Almost There**

The bus finally stopped at its destination, Iwate-san Mountains. Izumi was very relieved after staring at the ceiling and counting how many screws there was on the ceiling for two hours straight. She was also relieved because she could get away from Miyamoto and Yanagimoto-sensei. Everyone walked out quickly. Izumi waited for everyone to leave, being one of the last to leave the bus. As soon as she stepped out of the bus, Yanagimoto-sensei was explaining directions.

"Okay, I need you guys to be in pairs. There are three bases around Iwate-san Mountains that are preset already. I am handing out maps for all teams. The faster you get to the end, the better grade you get for this group class project," Yanagimoto-sensei said at the top of her lungs.

She began picking partners as Izumi kept saying through her mind, "Not Miyamoto, not Miyamoto…" Unfortunately, since the class was an uneven number, and Miyamoto, Kouji, and Izumi were the only ones left, so they became a group. Miyamoto squealed with joy as she ran to Kouji's side and grabbed his arm, while pushing Izumi into the snow. Miyamoto smiled with bliss as she dragged Kouji away, but Yanagimoto-sensei interrupted her stream of joy.

"No wait, Miyamoto. I did a miscount. You will join Asami," she said.

Miyamoto groaned, glaring at Izumi, who was still in the snow since she pushed her. She walked away to Asami pompously. Izumi still sat silently on the snow since Miyamoto pushed her down. Kouji held out his indigo glove-covered hand and helped her up. "Can't she get herself up?" he thought, as he helped her up.

"Thanks," she said gratefully.

"Anyway, we need to follow Yanagimoto-sensei's directions. We have to climb the mountain. You have your gear, right?" he said very seriously.

"Yes."

"Well, let's hurry. We need to be there by a certain time or get a low mark."

"Uhh… yeah, sure."

Miyamoto was grumbling to herself as she walked up with Asami up the trail. "Stupid Izumi and her stupid luck to be with my Kouji!"

"What did you say?" asked Asami.

"Nothing!"

"I hear you say something about Kouji…"

"Shut up!"

"Give it up. The whole class knows you like him and he doesn't."

"WHAT!" she said furiously as she bonked Asami on the head.

Asami rubbed her hand on her head and said, "You know what, if you're going to treat me like this just because of something so ridiculous, I am going to join that group over there and leave and you can do this lousy assignment by yourself! And also, you were never like this before Orimoto Izumi came. I think its because you're jealous of her!"

"Oh that is it! Good-bye! Miyamoto said as she stormed off. She tripped over a rock and fell flat on her face in the snow. She groaned as she pulled herself up and saw Kouji and Izumi walking up the path. Miyamoto, now by herself, grabbed a nearby rock, and began advancing towards them.

Kouji walked slightly ahead of Izumi up the steep path. Kouji also began wondering to himself. "People are getting suspicious of me. I don't wish to make any friends and I don't need any. I can get along on my own and would've if Orimoto wasn't here. Well, it's better than being with that god-awful Ryusaki Miyamoto. Well, I guess Orimoto is okay, since she's going though what I go through practically everyday of my life." Then he heard a thud behind him. And it wasn't Izumi.


	4. Chapter 4: Miyamoto's Rage

**Chapter 4: Miyamoto's Rage  
**

Izumi gasped as she turned around. Kouji remained calm and didn't bother to turn. Miyamoto sprinted out of nowhere and hit Izumi on the head with a rock. She quickly tried to grab Kouji but he just sidestepped and Miyamoto fell in the snow again. She groaned really loud and ran again to Kouji. This time she was successful. She managed three steps and Kouji wriggled free of her wrath. He ran back to Izumi and yelled, "Orimoto!" which wasn't very smart of him, as he cause a very small avalanche that make a huge pile over Izumi's legs, covering her up to her waist. Thankfully, her head and arms were out. The good part was he managed to get away from Miyamoto. The bad part was he didn't know if Izumi was still conscious. Kouji got to his knees and began trying to dig her out. Miyamoto stepped up to Kouji and said,

"What a pity, she died," she sneered.

"Shut up!" he yelled as he flinged some snow off the ground and into Miyamoto's eyes, resuming at digging Izumi out. Miyamoto wiped the snow away from her face, appalled at Kouji's actions, then flounced away on her own.

Kouji was still trying to get her out. She was unconscious as Kouji though his hands would get frostbit if he kept digging with his hands. So he grappled Izumi's hands and yanked her out as he fell five feet back with Izumi, who was still inadvertent.

"Orimoto, wake up!" Kouji said loudly. But Izumi didn't wake up.

She lay there unconscious of her surroundings. But things were going through her mind. An image of Kouji running towards her ran through her head. All of a sudden she saw snow advancing towards her. After that, all she could remember was Kouji. Then she jolted awake and opened her eyes. She saw Kouji in front of her, yelling.

"Orimoto!" he screamed into her ear, without realizing Izumi awake.

"I'm awake!" she yelled back at him. Kouji changed face expression, stepping two footsteps back and said,

"I'm glad you're okay!"

"What?"

"Umm… nothing."

"Well.. all right."

"Are you okay? I mean, after being half-buried in snow?"

"Yes, I'm okay!"

"Well, c'mon we have to keep going… unless something's wrong…"

"Will you stop worrying about me! I'm fine!"

It was already becoming sunset from their arrival from Jiyuugaoka. They continued walking. Miyamoto went on her own direction, not minding Yanagimoto-sensei's instructions of where to go. She began kicking everything in her way.

"Damn it! Kouji hates me! Wait, if I get rid of Izumi…" she said as she kicked another rock, walked into the fog mist and disappeared.

The trail that Kouji and Izumi on ended, seeing that they needed to climb some ledges. Kouji saw it as no problem and climbed the first step. Izumi just watched him, slightly scared that she might fall down.

"Come on. It's not that hard."

"I don't know…"

"Fine, give me your hand."

Izumi accepted and grabbed Kouji's indigo-gloved covered hand. She climbed up, as she got her other hand on the ledge. Just then, she toppled on a rock sticking out on the side of the ledge.


	5. Chapter 5: Talking

**Chapter 5: Talking**

Kouji grabbed her with both hands and said encouragingly,

"C'mon now! Don't get scared! Ungh…. I'm beginning to slip!"

Izumi's other hand slipped off.

"Come on Orimoto! If I can do it so can you so try to put your hand back up!"

Izumi struggled to put her fuchsia glove-covered hand onto the ledge. And it worked.

"Good. You better not let your weight fall loosely or I can't pull you up."

"All right! Just pull me up!" she screamed at Kouji.

Kouji grabbed her other hand and pulled her up, falling down, as Izumi fell on her head.

"Oww! Next time, don't slam me onto the rocks!"

"Well, sorry…" said Kouji as he climbed up another ledge with ease.

"Hey! Wait for me!"

"Well, hurry up."

"Well, I'm sorry if I cant climb as well as you, but you're going to have to help me."

"Says who?"

"Me. Or you can go ahead without me and leave me here in the cold to freeze."

"Okay," said Kouji as he started climbing the third ledge.

"Hey! Don't you know sarcasm when you hear it, Kouji? KOUJI? Come back here!"

She heard only silence. "Why, you! Stupid…." She grumbled. She climbed another ledge with her feet dangling.

"If I die Kouji, this is your fault!"

She tried her hardest to pull herself up, and she made it. She was really proud of herself, sort of.

"What an accomplishment…" she thought to herself sarcastically. As she stood up, she saw Kouji leaning onto the wall with hands in the pockets of his black pants.

"Hey… what are you doing here? I thought you left me!"

"No. I just wanted you to do it by yourself."

"What?" she said semi-loudly and hit him on the head, as his bandanna came off, and fell down to the first ledge they climbed.

"You'd better get that," said Kouji in a very serious tone.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because you made me think that you left me. We're partners for this assignment, then you leave me. Do you know what partners means or do I need to pull out a dictionary and tell you the definition?"

"Yes, I know. I'm going back down there to get it, and you'd better be here when I get back."

"All right."

Kouji put his backpack down, climbed down very quickly down the two rocky ledges, and grabbed his bandanna. He tied it up in his hair and went to climb up again. As he approached and climbed the third rocky ledge, he couldn't seem to get up.

"I could use a little help you know, Orimoto."

"No."

"Hey, if you don't help me, I can't help you get up the other rocky ledges."

"Yeah, well, if you don't want to sleep down there in the cold, you'd better apologize."

"Apologize? All I did was to help you learn to climb like normal people… and what do you mean sleep down here?"

"You left your backpack here. And I can see you have a lot of nice warm thing I could use during the night."

"Hey! Don't you touch my bag!"

"Hey, what's this nice sleeping bag I see here?"

"Don't touch my bag, Orimoto!"

"Well, apologize!"

"Okay. Sorry."

"You don't mean that, Kouji-kun."

"I'm REALLY sorry I scared you, okay, Orimoto-san?"

"Acceptable," said Izumi as she poked her head over the third ledge and held her fuchsia gloved hand out for him. Kouji grabbed her hand and pulled himself up. As he got up, he noticed his backpack first.

"So, you didn't touch it."

"No I didn't."

"Then why do I see my sleeping bag poking out?"

"It was sticking out."

"Oh," he said as he grabbed his backpack looked at the final ledge. "There's only one left. Then we can set up camp."

"How do you know?"

"My dad was here on business once and I was with him at the time."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really. It's getting dark so we'd better set up camp."

Kouji looked up to the final rock-filled ledge as nothing. Izumi was thinking, "He'd better help me."

Kouji jumped and climbed up with ease. Then he held out his indigo-gloved hand out for Izumi to hold onto.

"C'mon. I don't have all day."

"All right, gosh," she said quietly and helped herself up, ignoring Kouji's hand.

She got up and said while smirking, "I'm a fast learner."

"Oh, shut up…" Kouji muttered, feeling stupid.

Meanwhile, Miyamoto grabbed a twig lying in the snow and opened her backpack. She took out an old red rag sitting on the sticky bottom of her backpack. She tied it to the stick and stuck it near a thin sheet of ice. She then bent down in the snow and grabbed an armful of snow to throw over the ice. She walked off into the mist and continued on…


	6. Chapter 6: Sitting Alone

**Chapter 6: Sitting alone…  
**

The sun had already set and it was beginning to get dark.

"Why are we the first ones here?" asked Izumi.

"Well, it's getting dark. We'd better set up camp. We're probably not the first, but I'm pretty sure we're not the last. Half the class isn't good climbers." Kouji said, after climbing.

"But we haven't even gotten to the first base yet," replied Izumi.

"We have four days to do this, so what's your hurry? Besides there are park rangers to make sure we don't fall into any trouble."

"Never mind," said Kouji as he put his backpack down and opened it. He took out a blue rolled-up bag about the size of his arm. It was his tent. He started setting it up. In a matter of minutes he completely figured it out and was set up perfectly. He reached into his backpack and flinged out his indigo sleeping bag. Izumi stood there in awe of how he did that in only three minutes. Kouji zipped open his tent and stop mid-way through going in.

"Hey, aren't you going to set up camp?" he asked.

"Well, you see…" Izumi stammered.

"What?" he asked coldly.

"I think Miyamoto stole some of my things. I checked my backpack just now, and my sleeping bag is missing. I really don't know what happened," she said while looking down at the snow.

Kouji sighed. "Fine. You can use my tent," he said quietly.

"Really? I mean, I don't have anything in return."

"I don't need anything."

"But…"

"I won't mind you using my tent as long as you don't stink it up or of you have bathroom problems!"

'What are you implying? I do not have bathroom problems!" Izumi said.

Kouji smiled at her.

"Oh, you," Izumi said while slightly smiling as she put her lavender knapsack down.

Kouji settled down and started looking for firewood. There was a tree nearby so he climbed up and took out a knife from his pocket. He chopped off a couple of thick twigs and threw them in a pile. He dug in his bag and took out matches. He then lit it to make a nice, home-like campfire. He opened his bag again took out a canister. He put it over the fire for about two minutes, opened it and drank some. He noticed Izumi, who only sat on a rock upon the snow, looking at the night sky.

"You want some?" Kouji asked.

"Uh… no it's okay. You offered me your tent and it's your food and all."

"I'm not hungry," he said, getting up as he thrust the canister of soup broth into Izumi hands. He walked away and sat at the left side of the tent. Izumi stared at him for seven seconds, stood up and walked to him.

"Kouji, look you don't have to act so cold towards everyone. I know your life may be harsh, but think about the good things," she said gently.

"Like what?"

"Well, your life, for one."

Kouji didn't say anything as he turned his head upwards into the sky.

"Don't you have anything else to say besides just gazing into nothingness?"

Kouji still didn't open his mouth or bother to at Izumi.

"Look, Kouji, I know what you're going though. I may not seem like it because I look so popular just by physical exterior, but I am alone, just like you. You've seen Miyamoto and how she treats me just because she doesn't know me or my personality. I used to live in Italy and no one liked me there because I was from Japan. And now, no one likes me here because I'm from Italy. And all I've ever wanted is to be accepted by others around me and to have some true friends. And I'm sure that's something you truly want, even though you never show it."

Kouji stared hard at the snow and looked down. Izumi stared at him for five more seconds. She walked away as her boots crunched into the snow, then sat by the fire hearth, and stared deeply into it, hoping that Kouji did not feel offended by what she said. Kouji stared agonizingly into the snow, thinking about what Orimoto said. He though to himself,

"I hate it when people are right about me."

He stood up and stared at Izumi, her back turned to Kouji. He stared at her and saw how much wisdom Izumi held within her mind and that she wasn't really ignorant as she appeared to be. He walked to her and said,

"Thanks," and sat across from her between the fire.

"It's getting really dark," she said and yawned.

"Go to sleep, then."

"Where will you stay?"

"Out here."

"But…"

"I insist."

"Well, all right. But you'd better sleep in here too. It's awfully cold out here. Don't stay out here too long, okay?"

Kouji only nodded.

Izumi climbed into Kouji's tent and went to sleep. Kouji stared at the starry night sky. There was a stone near the tent that looked good enough to sit on. He sat there while sitting next to the tent, keeping watch, and dwelling on his past experiences. After one hour of staring and thinking, his eyelids began getting real heavy, and he drifted to sleep while sitting up.

Meanwhile, Miyamoto was still advancing up the mountain, making more fake bases, and putting them in dangerous places. She attempted to put it in front of a cave, but that was really stupid of her because there was a bear dwelling in it that saw her and came out to make Miyamoto it's dinner. She climbed up a tree in horror. The bear watched her hungrily for three hours, then went back to its cave. Miyamoto was relieved and kept walking. She didn't know that the bear chewed up the flag while going back to its cave. Miyamoto was really brainless; unknowingly that her name was written on the fake flags she made. She had a tendency to write her name over and over on anything she could write on when she was bored in class.

Izumi was the first to wake up. She got out of Kouji's tent and saw Kouji, asleep sitting up, which she found impossible.

"Kouji, wake up," Izumi said, nudging Kouji on the shoulder.

"Hmm…what?" he said inaudibly through his sleep. Izumi touched his cheek.

"You've been freezing out here all night!"

"No, I wasn't," he said raspily through his throat and sneezed.

"You are so stubborn. Tonight you stay in the tent!" Izumi scolded.

"All right! Uhh… do you have a tissue?" Kouji asked while covering his nose.

Izumi sighed and opened a side pocket of her knapsack. "You really shouldn't have slept out here! And I thought you were smarter."

"Stop yelling at me. You're not my father."

"Here," she said, holding out a tissue for her. "Hey, don't you have tissue? You gave me some on the bus yesterday."

"Well, that was the only one I had," Kouji spoke, while blowing his nose.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine! We have to get to the first base!"

"Well, okay. But if you get even worse, don't blame me."

Kouji and Izumi continued up the trail. Finally, they reached first base. Unluckily, it was one of Miyamoto's fake flags, and it was the one where Miyamoto coated the thin ice with snow. Izumi walked on while Kouji thought for a minute.

"Why haven't we seen Yanagimoto-sensei or any of our other classmates at all? It says on this map that the base should be right here. And we'd see our classmates crowding around the first base initially. And everyone has the same exact maps as us. But this base flag has Miyamoto's writing all over it."

Izumi walked forward, while appreciating the winter surroundings. "Don't you just love winter?" Izumi asked, looking up and breathing in the pristine air.

Kouji heard a slight crack.

"Wait a minute…" Kouji thought. "Orimoto! Get off!"

Izumi was too busy enjoying the seasonal surroundings to mind Kouji's blabbering.

"Orimoto, please, I'm warning you, get off that right now!"

"Why? It seems safe to me," Izumi replied as she stood there.

"No, Orimoto, you're standing on ice!" said Kouji roughly, motioning Izumi to get off the darn thing. He heard more cracks.

"What? I don't see any –ahh!" Izumi fell as the ice floor broke, falling and into the ice cold water.

Kouji stared in horror.


	7. Chapter 7: Kindness from Kouji

**Chapter 7: Kindness from Kouji**

"Orimoto!" Kouji yelled and ran to where Izumi fell. He couldn't rush because walking near broken ice is not a good idea and he could get trapped in the freezing water himself. Then he stopped dead still. He checked hastily to see that he also wasn't standing on ice also. He brushed away the snow and saw that it was ice, and he had no choice but to walk on it anyway. He stepped with great caution.

"Orimoto!" Kouji yelled uselessly.

Only Izumi's fuchsia hat was floating in the hole of ice and freezing water. Kouji grabbed it and shoved it into his pocket.

Izumi desperately tried to swim up, but she was freezing to death. She knew how to swim but not in water that was ten degrees below zero. Kouji tried to remain calm and not panic. He threw his backpack down, flung his indigo gloves off, took off his jacket, and stuck his hands in to see if Izumi could grab on. Sticking his hand was really painful but not in the physical way. It was unbearably cold, but he _had _to find her, or he would never forgive himself. But she didn't grab onto his hand. Izumi was beginning to lose conscience, while kicking her legs, trying to reach the surface. Kouji could only think of one other way to get Izumi out. He flung off his bandanna, held his breath, got on his stomach… and stuck his head in the water to look for Izumi. He saw a blurred image of her struggling in torture of the ice cold water. It was good that Izumi was kicking her legs with no sense of directions because she would have sunk down lower. Kouji's head and arms were beginning to feel numb as he grabbed violently for one of Izumi's fingers. He missed. He just had to grab onto her. He also knew that humans could only bear so much ice cold freezing water for only three minutes until they expire. He tried in anguish again to grab her hand. He missed again. He tried a third time to try to grab something. At least something attached to her body, like her hair. He swiveled his arms violently, and successfully grabbed her wrist. He finally pulled his head out of the freezing water. It was like freedom, only that his head and arms were even more adhering through extreme cold. He pulled Izumi out with all his might and took her out of the horrible ice water. He lay her on the snow and grabbed his sleeping bag out of his backpack to cover her. He immediately put on his jacket for some warmth. He stared at her, and she wasn't breathing. This was something Kouji didn't want to do, but it was necessary for her to live. He needed to docardiopulmonary resuscitation, CPR, on her. He pinched her nose and enclosed his lips around hers and gave some breath to her. He felt particularly warm and fuzzy for doing this, but there was no other way. He gazed at Izumi, who still was not breathing. "Man, I have to do it again…" he thought.

He came close to her face again… as she coughed out cold water, which splashed against Kouji's face. He wiped his face with his hands as Izumi opened her eyes. Kouji quickly moved away from her, shivering vigorously at the same time.

"Kouji? What…what happened? And what were you doing?" Izumi exclaimed weakly, clutching the sleeping bag.

"You fell through the ice… and, and…"

"And what?" she said, still feeling faint.

Kouji quickly thought of something dull to say. "Uhh… you spit in my face."

"But, why were you near me?"

"Hey, stop asking questions. I just saved you. And I'm dripping here, freezing like heck," he said coldly while quivering violently. His sideburns were beginning to look like popcicles.

"Well, so am I! I was completely surrounded by ice cold water, and you weren't! All I asked for was an answer, not an excuse!" she said, and sneezed, while vigorously shivering also, fiercely clutching Kouji's sleeping bag.

"Fine. I gave you CPR, or you would've died!"

Izumi gazed at him like she never saw him in her life.


	8. Chapter 8: Izumi's Questioning

**Chapter 8: Izumi's Questioning**

The chilly wind blew as was Izumi holding onto Kouji's sleeping bag. She chattered her teeth while Kouji stood there, his tied wet hair forming icicles, and clutching himself while shivering. Izumi's hair also was forming icicles. It was worse for her since she had longer hair.

"Thank you for saving my life. I owe you one," she said while half-dancing and half-standing like a little ant.

Kouji looked down while still chattering his teeth and shivering. A strong wind blew and Izumi wrapped the sleeping bag around her tightly. She wished she had a towel to at least dry herself and keep the ice water from dripping everywhere.

"Why am I the one to always get caught in something? First snow topples on me now I fall through ice. I think someone's out to get me," she thought.

"Are you okay?" asked Kouji, interrupting her thoughts of someone out to get her, while shaking and clutching himself for warmth.

"Yeah…well, no."

"We need some place to stay warm for now. The snow will get worse later on."

"Where are we going to stay! We're in the middle of Iwate-san Mountains! Like we're going to find anything! And you last gave me the map!" Izumi searched her wet mushy pockets. It must have fallen into the water. "Well I don't have it! Where are we gonna go! We have no idea where bases or cabins are anymore!" Izumi said, freaking out.

"Well, d-do you want to freeze out here to death!" Kouji said loudly and coldly back to her.

"No!"

"Well, come on then," Kouji said as he walked away also half-dancing like he had ants in his pants.

"I'm s-ss-so c-c-cold, Kouji."

Kouji stopped and took off his thick indigo blazer. "Here, now stop c-c-complaining."

"What? But it's s-so cold. I have my own jacket."

"But you were full submerged in water. I wasn't. Now take it."

"No. I won't give in. You don't always have to be nice to me just because I'm some weak little girl. We'll be cold together."

Kouji wrapped his indigo blazer around her anyway. All he had left was his blue jacket with yellow stripes running down the sleeves.

"Kouji! Take your jacket back. You don't even have a sweater on. Only that little thin thing!"

"I'm f-fine! Okay? Now shush up."

"Kouji, I am not taking your jacket."

"Yes, you are."

"Look, I may be not as strong as you, but I still want you to be warm too!"

Kouji turned his head and just looked at her. Izumi stared back.

"P-please, I don't want you to get sick or develop something because of me." Izumi said, still jumping up and down.

"I just can't let you freeze out here," Kouji said, looking at the snow, crossed-armed, and chattering his teeth at the same time.

"Look; listen to me, Kouji. I'm okay. Don't worry about me."

"No you're not. You're always prone to getting crushed by something."

"What does that mean?"

"Never mind. G-give me back my jacket."

Kouji wrapped himself and turned his neck like a robot to see where to go.

"W-where should we go?"

"How should I know?"

Just then, a snowflake fell on Izumi's nose.

Kouji looked up with repulsive resentment towards the sky.

"Oh, no. It's snowing," Kouji said.

"What the hell are we going to do? Become popsicles!" Izumi yelled into his ear.

"Shut up! Do you want to start another avalanche? Because this time I'm not digging you out!"

"What? Stop blaming everything on me!"

"I'm not the one who wouldn't listen to get off thin ice when I had warned you like three times. Who the heck is stupid enough to not notice cracking sounds?"

"Well, sorry if I'm not as smart as you, Kouji! You know, you're starting to sound like Miyamoto!"

"What? How can you compare me to that insensitive girl?"

"Why don't you just go, since you're insulting me, like she wants you to!"

"Orimoto-san, what are you talking about?"

"You're just pretending to be nice to me! You're doing what Miyamoto wants you to do, which is to insult me!"

"What? Where did you get that idea from? Just because I was being sarcastic doesn't mean I'm being like Miyamoto!"

"Well, I..."

Just then, a light shone though the light-falling snow and onto Kouji and Izumi. It was Yanagimoto-sensei on a snow speeder. She jumped off her speeder and ran to the two.

"Orimoto! Minamoto! Are you two okay? You both have icicles forming on yourselves! What happened?"

"Aren't you wondering why the heck were lost?" Kouji said quietly.

"No, I know what happened." I'll take you to the cabin where all your classmates are and explain everything. Climb here. You two must be freezing to death.

"Yes, we are." Kouji said.

Yanagimoto-sensei sat on the speeder, while Kouji got behind her, and Izumi behind him, clinging onto Kouji and shivering. Yanagimoto-sensei got up to give Kouji and Izumi blankets and threw Kouji and Izumi's bags into a compartment. Then they drove off.


	9. Chapter 9: Izumi's Farewell?

**Chapter 9: Izumi's… Farewell?**

Yanagimoto-sensei and the other two, Kouji and Izumi, arrived at the cabin in about ten minutes. Their cheeks were cold solid, but at least not frostbitten. Izumi was also lucky to not have been frostbitten or have gotten hypothermia. Yanagimoto-sensei rushed them into the cabin, where they found all their classmates, who had worried looks on their faces, and sipping hot mugs of cocoa. It was very pleasant and heavenly to be back where it was warm again. Kouji immediately ran to the fire, as his wet hair began to dry up, and his hair icicles melting and dripping onto the floor. Izumi also ran to the fire, but kept Kouji's sleeping bag on. Their classmates rushed to them, seeing that they were okay.

"Move aside, class. Orimoto and Minamoto had a long two days of freezing to death, so give them some air." Yanagimoto-sensei said, pushing her class.

Asami came up and gave Izumi and Kouji warm mugs to drink from, and a box of tissue.

"Thank you," Izumi said quietly.

"Thanks." Kouji said, then sneezed.

"Everyone, go to bed. I need to talk to these two." Yanagimoto-sensei said, dismissing her class to bed. As soon as she heard the doors close, she said,

"A lot has happened. The whole reason you didn't see us and got lost, and ran into some obstacles is because of Ryusaki Miyamoto. Normally you would have seen your classmates altoghether. Ryusaki changed bases and trails so that you guys would be completely separated from the class. I'm surprised you got through, because you walked the whole rocky terrain. Orimoto, I'm very sorry on how I biased you on where you were from. Don't expect a letter to your parents this week. Minamoto, I'm proud of your bravery. You saved and helped this girl and, that was very admirable of you. I spent today looking for you two, though. You both should get some sleep. Do not worry about this assignment, because you both earned the highest grades," Yanagimoto-sensei said, smiling.

"What happened to Miyamoto?" Izumi asked tiredly, warming her hands around the fire.

"Well, you see, what she did was unacceptable. She tried to eradicate you, for I don't know what reason, probably out of jealousy. She caused that avalanche for you to be half-buried in snow and make you slip through ice. And made fake bases of her own, which is why you two were lost. I know this because Orimoto, you have a good-hearted friend, Ichiyusai Asami. She watched Miyamoto, then told me what was going on. Miyamoto was also stupid herself, leaving her name down on those fake flags."

Izumi smiled and Kouji just listened attentively to what Yanagimoto-sensei was saying.

"So, therefore, Miyamoto is facing expulsion. I sent her back to Jiyuugaoka School. Her parents will personally talk to her and she needs counseling."

Izumi felt a bit guilty and was full of questions. Kouji stared at Izumi and also was confused. Yanagimoto-sensei left and went to her own room. Kouji and Izumi were too tired and cold to move, so they just slept there on the floor, wrapped in blankets. They slept peacefully in front of the fire, and woke up at nine in the morning, the next day. Izumi was first to get up. She saw Kouji sleeping slobbishly on the floor in front of the nearly burnt out fire, without a blanket. Izumi put the blanket she was sleeping with, Kouji's sleeping bag, and covered him with it.

"Thank you, Kouji," she whispered very quietly, and walked to the table.

As Izumi walked to the table, there was a note from Yanagimoto-sensei.

"Orimoto and Minamoto, you don't have to come along today. You're both very tired, so get some rest. The class and I are on our last day of exploring Iwate-san Mountains, then we'll be leaving tomorrow."

"What?" Izumi thought. "Oh well." Izumi walked to the kitchen to find something to eat. At that time, Kouji had just awakened.

Izumi walked back to Kouji. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Kouji said tiredly.

"You want some breakfast?"

"Yeah, I'm really hungry."

"Yanagimoto-sensei left us food."

Kouji looked around, seeing that no one was there and it was completely quiet. He said a little shocked, "What? The class left without us? We'd better go!"

"Wait, just look at this note the teacher left."

Kouji skimmed through the written note. "All right then."

Izumi sat at the table. Kouji sat across from her. Kouji ate quietly, as Izumi just stared at him. Kouji glanced up and replied, "What?"

"This is a weird scenario." Izumi said, staring into space, hands folded on the table.

"Well, aren't you glad Miyamoto is gone?"

"Yes, but…"

"But, what?"

"Why would anyone be my friend? I have no friends in this class."

"Either do I, so stop your questioning."

"But didn't you hear Yanagimoto-sensei? She said 'I have a good friend, Asami.' Why would Asami help me? She was friends with Miyamoto."

"Well, you never know," Kouji said, with food in his mouth.

"But still, Miyamoto was expelled and —"

"None of that was your fault, Orimoto-san. Was it your choice to make her kill you? No. She decided that, so therefore this is her fault," Kouji said, reassuringly.

Izumi didn't say anything and continued eating. Just then, Yanagimoto-sensei and Asami came in.

"Well, it looks like our trip here is done. The rest of the class will come in soon," Yanagimoto-sensei said. She walked into her room to change.

Asami stood there and didn't know what to say. Izumi looked at her with a suspicious gaze. Asami only walked quietly towards the sofa.

"Why did you help me?" Izumi said silently in the direction of Asami

"Orimoto-san, I—"

"I'm grateful for what you did, but still, Miyamoto was your friend," Izumi said.

"Orimoto, I'm sorry for all the cruel things Miyamoto did, and I apologize on her behalf, although I do not want to be friends with her anymore."

Izumi eyed her with queer thoughts. "Why not, may I ask?"

"She was more of a dictator, and acted like she owned the class. I wanted to be friends with you when you first entered the class, but Miyamoto wouldn't let me. So, I decided to help you now."

Izumi smiled and said gratefully, with her hand on Asami shoulder. "Thank you," and gave Asami a friendship hug. Kouji stood there, quietly, but happily, seeing that Izumi had finally got what she wanted. A true friend. Izumi turned to Kouji and said,

"Thank you, Kouji, for all you have done," she said gratefully, and full of feelings. She got near Kouji, and gave him a hug, arms around his neck. Kouji stood there, like a stick, and shakily put his hand on her shoulder. He then, took a step back, hands in his pockets, and looked at the floor. Izumi walked away and walked off with Asami. Kouji stared at the floor, then looked up. He thought, "Orimoto-san, I'm glad you got what you wanted, true friendship, but I don't know what to say. I miss her."

Kouji looked up. "What is this? I like being alone, yet I'm yearning for Orimoto?" he pondered again. He walked off to the boy's dormitory.

Yanagimoto-sensei walked outside and came out with a camera.

"Oh yes, I forgot to tell you, Orimoto and Minamoto, we're taking class pictures, so get dressed." She left out the door.

"Well, lets get dressed," Izumi said, and headed to the girls dormitory with Asami to change. Kouji heard the door slam, then went to the boys dormitory to change. As soon as he got in, two boys named Okuma Ishiro and Imaizumi Matsuyo. Kouji walked into the bathroom, as soon as he touched the knob, Matsuyo said, "Hey loner, how was it to be stranded with a girl?"

"I respect her. And I'm not a loner," he said, looking at the floor, opened the bathroom door, and slammed it. He listened to Ishiro and Matsuyo's conversation.

"Out of all the guys, why does he get stranded with her? I mean Izumi-san was a loner also, but Kouji is undeserving! He must have been a basket case to have to stay with him for her," Ishiro said.

Kouji leaned against the bathroom door, thought about what Ishiro and Matsuyo, shrugged it off, and put on a new set of snow gear. He left the dormitory quickly and went outside. Izumi was already there, talking with Asami. She seemed to fit in very well, and didn't notice Kouji as he passed by and stood by a tree, hands in his pocket. Kouji thought and felt that he was forgotten and neglected.

"See, this is why I don't help or talk to people. As soon as they see their petty little friends, they just ditch you," he thought, frowning at the snow.

"Why won't Kouji come here? I feel a bit awkward with a lot of people around me." Izumi thought, and knew Kouji was behind her, but didn't turn around.

"Okay, you'd better cooperate, class." Yanagimoto-sensei said, with the camera docked on the tripod. Everyone got into a group, except Kouji, who walked in real slowly and stayed five inches away from the group.

"Kouji-kun, come closer," Izumi said, with a smile "Look, if you're angry because I didn't talk to you, I'm in a funny position. I'm not used to this "all-of-a-sudden" having friends situation, so please believe me, Kouji…" she said, with a bit of sadness into it.

Kouji smiled and walked to Izumi and stood next to her. Izumi put her hand on Kouji's shoulder and smiled for the camera. Kouji turned his head to her, and stared at her, he felt a bit of feelings, then turned to the camera, and smiled, without showing his teeth. Then Kouji put his arm on Izumi's shoulder. She turned her neck, looked at him, admiring him for his bravery in saving her life, and also felt feelings for him, then turned back to the picture, and gave a beautiful smile. Yanagimoto-sensei set the timer click the camera, and ran to the class. Everyone seemed content, and as soon as the class picture was taken, everyone went back to chatting. Some people in the class were surprised to see Kouji actually opening his mouth and talking. Others were surprised to see that Izumi wasn't sulking and hiding in a corner, alone. Nearly the whole class was astonished that Kouji and Izumi were talking to each other. Kouji wanted to tell his feelings to Izumi, but he thought he'd look and feel stupid. Izumi also, but she thought that Kouji would just reject her, seeing how obnoxiously weak she was. It was time to leave Iwate-san Mountains, and the bus driver had put the whole class's luggage away. The bus heading back to Jiyuugaoka was here, and everyone had to leave. This time, Izumi wouldn't have to be bored to death, because she had Asami and Kouji to talk to. This time, Kouji wouldn't be lonely, because Izumi was there. This time, Asami wouldn't be sad and submissive, because Miyamoto was gone now. There was chatter going around about Miyamoto finally being gone from school but it was not a major topic. As soon as nearly the whole class boarded, Yanagimoto-sensei triple-checked that everyone and everything was there.

They were about to leave, as soon as a silver car, followed by an enormous van. It was Izumi's mother and father who came out of the car. Izumi's mother came to talk to Yanagimoto-sensei. They seemed to confide and have a private talk with each other, but it seemed like a serious talk. As soon as they finished, Yanagimoto-sensei called Izumi to come out of the bus. Kouji looked mysteriously at what was going on, and it seemed that he was the only one who had a clue what was going on. The huge van was a moving van, as he's seen a million times from his father's moving a lot routines and he saw luggage in Izumi's parent's car. He walked fast but casually to the front. He checked from the window and saw Izumi, talking to her father, crying softly. He knew it. Izumi had to move. He left the steps of the bus, but Yanagimoto-sensei halted him.

"I'm sorry, Minamoto, but you're going to have to wait."

"What? But I can tell Izumi's leaving, please let me talk to her," Kouji said.

"You'll have to wait till she's done talking to her parents, Minamoto," Yanagimoto-san.

Kouji stood there, impatiently, as soon as Izumi walked in, he jumped up.

"Orimoto…" he said, quietly. Izumi looked up, crying, just like she was at the beginning of this trip to Iwate-san Mountains.

"Kouji, I'm leaving…" Izumi said, so quietly, even Kouji couldn't hear her, but read her lips.


	10. Chapter 10: Gazing

**Chapter 10: Gazing**

"What? Orimoto, what are you talking about?" Kouji said.

Izumi motioned him to walk outside the bus. Kouji stood there, hands in his pocket like always.

"Kouji, my family and I are being transferred back to Italy. It's his job. He doesn't have a choice. My dad basically supports the whole family. My father is great, and I don't mind moving, but this is the first time I actually make real friends, and I don't want to leave, but I have no choice…"

Asami joined them, who was listening from the bus window atop from them, ran off the bus, joining Kouji and Izumi's conversation.

"Izumi! What do you mean your leaving!"

"I'm sorry," she said, as a crystal teardrop fell, and dropped on the snow, and turned into ice.

"But I don't want you to leave, Orimoto…" Asami said softly.

Kouji stood there, pretending he didn't hear that, but he knew it was true.

"Orimoto… I-I—" Kouji stammered, "I don't … want you to leave Jiyuugaoka," he said, straight out, with a touch of angst, but feeling. He was looking at the ground, though. Asami stood there. Izumi standing there, hands together, crying. Her father came to Izumi's side, and put his hand on her shoulder

"Izumi, we have to leave in five minutes. I'm signing you off to take your name off of Jiyuugaoka School. We'll come back some time," her father said, and walked away, while his shoes crunched in the snow.

"I guess, this is goodbye…" Izumi sobbed, crying even harder.

Asami came and gave her a hug, a few tears slowly streaming off her face.

"I know I haven't had much time to get to know you, Izumi," Asami said.

Kouji offered the two of them tissue. Kouji had tears, but held back. Izumi turned her crying face to Kouji. She came to him, put her arms around his neck, and gave him a goodbye hug. Kouji at first didn't do anything, but at the last minute patted her back, then pulled away, and stared at the ground.

"Thank you for everything, Kouji" Izumi said quietly.

Asami took something out of her pocket. It was a silver necklace she had. "This is a necklace I wear from time to time. I want you to remember me by it since we had such little time to get to know each other. Please take care of it, Izumi."

"I will," Izumi said and hugged Asami.

"I…I really don't have anything to offer…" Kouji said, looking sympathetic. Izumi stared at him with great feeling, and tried to think of something.

"Look in your pocket," Izumi said quietly. "Something of mine is in one of your pockets. Please keep it." Kouji remembered that he had stuffed Izumi's hat into his jacket when Izumi fell through the ice and the hat was floating in the water. He looked into his pocket and took it out. Izumi put her hand on the hat, of which touched Kouji's hand.

"I'll be back for this, I promise, Kouji." Izumi said, with a last small tear dripping of her face, and slid her hand off Kouji's hand. Kouji didn't know what to say. This time, he gave her a hug, but a very shaky hug. After three seconds of being uncomfortable, he broke off from her.

"Thank you," Kouji said very quietly, and went back to staring at the snow.

"Izumi, its time to go, " her mother said, and took her gently by the hand. She walked away, staring back at Asami and Kouji with cold watery eyes. She walked into her parents car, crammed with luggage. Asami and Kouji stared at her leaving, while Kouji grasped the hat he was just given. The car started, and Izumi stared back at her seventh grade class, and of course Izumi and Asami. Then, her father slowly drove off. Izumi kept her neck turned till her class was out of sight, while her father kept driving. Kouji, Asami, Yanagimoto-sensei, and the rest of class watched till Izumi's car was out of sight. Izumi quietly dried the remaining tears on her face. Back at the Iwate-san Mountains,. Yanagimoto-sensei led the two of them back to the bus, the class acting like nothing had happened. Asami and Kouji sat down across from each other on the bus, looking dispirited. They both were back where they started. Alone.

"Come, let's go…" Yanagimoto-sensei said quietly to the bus driver, Mr. Hoshino. Kouji and Asami felt somewhat subdued and depressed. Asami stared out the frost-covered window. She knew she did not know Izumi at all very well but felt she was missing something. It wasn't a great loss since she never became a true friend for her in the first place. Kouji stared at the floor. He missed her, but didn't want to show it, and let his mind deny it. They both stared out the window, gazing the whole way back to Jiyuugaoka.


	11. Part 2: Seven Year Life

**_Part Two: Seven Year Life_**

**Chapter 11: Seven years more…**

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Orimoto Izumi, Minamoto Kouji, and Ichiyusai Asami had all became young, mature adults. They all had grown to their adult size, were very mature about the basis of life, but were not content. They were all separated from each other. They were all about nineteen years old, separated for seven years, excluding Asami and Kouji, who would see each other only once in awhile around campus. They both had dormitory campuses far away from each other and had completely different schedules, so that they wouldn't see each other practically at all. Asami was not attracted to him in any way, and neither was Kouji. Kouji disliked peppy people and cheerleaders, or people in cliques with people he loathed. Asami didn't like quiet, introverted people. But Asami thought it was sweet that Kouji had feelings for Izumi. Izumi studied at a fine university in Venice, Italy. She mainly kept to herself, usually, and didn't have time for friends, and always focused on her work. Her goal was to become a Psychologist in Children Behavior, and was aiming for her bachelor's degree. She chose this career because it reflected on herself, and her pathetic, depressing childhood. It made her content and happy to see young children not to grow up like her. Of course, it was not like her to not try to make friends while going to school. But, she knew she had some true friends in Jiyuugaoka, Japan. Besides, when she came back to Italy, the people saw her as Miyamoto did, so she didn't bother. And this time she didn't care, just like Kouji. Asami studied at Jiyuugaoka University of Japan. She studied in the field of Law and wanted to become an attorney. Ever since the experience with Izumi and Miyamoto, she was inspired in the way of helping others, even if their situation looked bleak, and if everyone hated them. Kouji also went to Jiyuugaoka University. He was studying in the Technology field, to become a Computer Technician. He only took up this career because his stepmother and father forced him to, saying it was for him own good, and that he would have a lot of money. Kouji really didn't care about the money. He wanted to become a doctor, or a career, which required saving people. As reflected from his past childhood experiences, it showed that he had a passion for saving people, even in life-or-death situations.

They all had grown into and became different, successful adults.

Meanwhile, back in Jiyuugaoka, a tall dark, mysterious, handsome figure was working in Jiyuugaoka Coffee shop. He was about almost twenty years old and needed to pay for college funds, while going to Jiyuugaoka University of Japan. He was really tired and wanted to go home. He had three papers due and a midterm the next day. He was Minamoto Kouji. Kouji had grown a considerable amount. He was about five feet and ten inches tall. His hair was not exactly the same, just longer. He still kept the same wardrobe, the indigo jacket, the yellow shirt, and the black pants, except they were longer and slightly baggier. The one thing that was missing was what complemented his whole outfit, his bandanna. His boss didn't like him wearing hats or headgear while working. He reached into his pocket and took out a familiar object. It was the fuchsia hat Izumi gave to him seven years ago. He held it in his hands reminiscently, thinking about that day in the snow in Iwate-san Mountains. And also thought that Izumi was the only real friend he had, counting Asami, but he didn't mind her. Orimoto Izumi was the only real friend Kouji made in seven years of being alone.

Meanwhile, in Venice, Italy, a medium sized girl was walking around the towne center. Her long blonde hair was down to her waist, and contained curly tips. She has a whitetop, a silver necklace, which was given to her by Asami, a ravishing long fuchsia trench coat, which reached all the way down past her knees, also with fuchsia nylon pants, complete with white sandals with one-inch heels. She seemed to look affluent and rich, but only because of the job movement her father did seven years ago. Inside her heart, she was lonely. The whole reason she hadn't made any friends in Venice was because of the same reason Miyamoto hated her. She didn't mind though, because she had two of the best friends she could ever have in Jiyuugaoka, Japan. It seemed hopeless that she could keep her promise to Kouji and Asami that she made on the day she left, but she kept determined that one day, she would see Minamoto Kouji and Ichiyusai Asami again. It was a windy day in Venice, and Izumi was walking around. The wind blew quite turbulently and her hair scattered and flew around, twisted and directionless. She waited for the wind to stop, then went into a nearby store, went into the restroom, and fixed her hair. She opened her purse and took out a brush. She fixed and rearranged her hair into its normal state. While she was fixing her hair, she remember back when she had her favorite fuchsia hat, her hair wouldn't mess up. She also thought of that day she gave it to the only other friend she had, Minamoto Kouji. And she missed him. She dismissed herself from the bathroom and looked around to see what the store had to offer. She also gazed at some merchandise, but didn't by anything they had to offer. She left and walked from the towne center and went home to her father's place. She got there in five minutes, opened the door, and sighed like everything was hopeless. She hung her coat on the rack, took her sandals off, and said hello to her father and went upstairs. She went in her room and lied on her bed. She rolled to the side, and looked at the picture on her wall, which had been hanging there for the past seven years. It was the class picture at Iwate-san Mountains. Izumi gazed at it, like always, like she had never seen it before. She was smiling brightly in the picture, Kouji smirking, and Asami with Izumi, also smiling happily. Izumi smiled while observing the picture frame, but was smiling sadly. She missed Kouji a lot but not as much for Asami. It seemed like the two of them have forgotten her.

Back in Jiyuugaoka, Asami was in her dormitory, sitting on her bed, fidgeting with her bed sheets and holding her pillow. She was lonely. Being an attorney was a fulfilling career to her, but she felt she was missing something. A friend. One that she could trust and could be sure that she would never tell anyone her deepest, dark secrets. But she didn't have one, well she used to. Her name was Ryusaki Miyamoto. After Miyamoto had gotten expelled, she never talked to Asami ever again. Izumi could have been considered a friend to Asami but she was never given the chance to get to know her better. She stared at the wall next to her bed. It also was the class fieldtrip picture. Asami began getting a bed reputation after getting Miyamoto in trouble, so she didn't havemany close friends or much of anything. She basically did the same routine everyday. Get up, get ready for class, go to class, eat, go back to her dormitory, and study for long hours, studying different kinds of cases and terms based on law, then go to bed. She was pretty tiresome of it, but it was all she had. She thought of the heirloom she gave to Izumi and prayed she didn't lose it. She regretted giving a family heirloom to somewhat of a stranger. She was pretty lonely, but it wouldn't bother her as long as she knew she was successful.

Meanwhile, Kouji was very stressed out. He had finally finished his shift at work, but was pissed. A child had thrown a cup of hot coffee in his face, messing up his hair and making it sticky. He had to clean up, then hung his apron, remembering to take out Izumi's hat from it. He walked to his blue car, and his key out. The wind blew softly into his hair, making his head cold. The wind blew into the direction of his old middle school, Jiyuugaoka Middle School. He stared at it, took the key out the keyhole, stuffed his key in his pockets, and walked away to his middle school. As he walked down the sidewalk, some people looked at him, because his head looked and smelled like someone poured coffee on him. He didn't care and kept walking till he got to his old middle school. He stood there, in front of it, like he had never seen it before. As the wind blew, he began to reminisce of back when he was still there. He stared at the cherry blossom tree in front of the school. There was a marble bench under it. He remembered how Izumi would always sit there, daydreaming alone. He saw the tree on the left side, where there was a red bench. He remembered how Miyamoto and her group, including Asami who didn't talk very much to them, would pompously sit there, talking or criticizing people for no reason. He looked at that one wall near the school entrance door that he always remembered. It was a wall in the corner, and he would always stand there, either hands crossed or in pockets, waiting for "useless" nutrition break to end. He blinked, and went away, back to his car. He started the engine, and drove into the night, back to his dormitory.


	12. Part 3: Intricately Together

**_Part Three: Intricately Together_**

**Chapter 12: Getting Back Together

* * *

**

Kouji finally got home. It was about eight by the time he got home. He loathed the housing he was in. His roommate, Fuyutsuki Tama, who was nothing more that an idiot and a drunk. He opened the door to his dorm. He saw Tama, slobbishy hanging on the sofa, half-awake, half asleep and probably drunk, because there were Sake bottles everywhere. The television was blaring and wasting electricity. He didn't care, thought. All what mattered was to study and write up his papers. He ran to his room and closed the door. He took off his jacket, threw it aside, and turned on his laptop. He opened his binder, to take out all his organic chemistry notes and threw it into a pile on his desk. He immediately got started, but then, something was bulging out of his pocket. It was Izumi's hat. "I don't have time to think about her right now!" he thought, put Izumi's hat on the left side of his desk, and dug through his mess of papers. Just then, the phone rang.

"Hello?" Kouji said tiredly.

"Don't hello me! You know why I'm calling!" said Mr. Minamoto, Kouji's father.

"No, I don't."

"I have here in my hands your progress for the semester!"

"So, it's not like it's my real grades. It's only progress."

"So? All I see is a bunch of bad grades!"

"Uh…"

"Don't 'uhh' me like you don't know! Your mother and I are working hard to pay for your tuition. You'd better get those grades up or you can pay for the tuition on your own!"

"I'm already paying for half of it."

"That was your choice. Was it my choice to go out and get an entry-level job?"

"No… but,"

"No buts. Get those grades up. Anyway, I have to go now. Take care Kouji."

Kouji slammed the phone. "Why now? I don't even know what my grades are," he thought, while still angry at the scolding he just received. He waited for his laptop to boot up and logged into the Internet and signed into his University's main site. He logged into his account. He literally fell of his chair at what he saw. His Organic Chemistry grade was literally on the brink of failure. His other two subjects, Biology and Physics were semi-okay, in the middle, but not great. Everything else he took up was extra curricular, and he didn't have a problem with it. The problem was his father didn't care much for extra curricular subjects, and only cared for the academic subjects. He knew he was in hot water, and that he shouldn't have taken up the job at Jiyuugaoka Coffee shop. Kouji was very stressed out, but thought he might as well just get everything finished. He started up his typing program and started his papers. He fumbled through his notes, looking for a subject to write about. He finally found a topic and went off typing. After about twenty minutes, he seemed to be getting progress. But then, he got stuck and didn't know what to write. He sat there, playing with a pencil, thinking of a new paragraph to write. He couldn't think of any. After forty-five minutes of mindless staring at the ceiling, he finally found one. It was really corny, but it was something, at least. When he finally finished his first Organic Chemistry paper, he had another paper to write about in Physics. He grabbed his binder, and sloppily looked through the big mess of papers sticking out. He didn't care; he just wanted to get it done. He finally found a topic, kept typing, and wrote up only to the page minimum. He finally saved everything, saved it onto disc, and then stumbled into bed. He was too tired to brush his teeth, and he was still wearing his work clothes. By the time he finished his papers, it was already two thirty in the morning. "I'll study in the morning," he thought. They were probably the worst papers he had ever written. He was too exhausted and fell asleep in a snap. After three glorious hours of sleep, Kouji was awakened by several knocks on the walls and doors of his room. He didn't care, but all of a sudden, a drunken Tama busted in with two girls on his side. Kouji immediately fell out of bed, slammed on the light, and yelled,

"Get the hell out of my room, Tama!"

"Hey-o, you're s-so uptight and all nowadays, so I got you a girl," Tama said, while mindlessly dancing and the girls clinging to him like hangers.

"What!"

"Aren't you going to say thank you?"

"No, you idiot! Get out of my damn room! I'm trying to sleep and have an education, unlike you!"

"Hey-y… that's not nice. You didn't thank me."

"Get the heck outta here!" Kouji said, as he kicked him out the door. The other girl clinging to him followed. The other girl let go of Tama's arm. He and the other girl stumbled out, and banged against hallway wall. They seemed very drunk and both collapsed in the hallway.

The other girl still remaining in his room, standing. She was wearing revealing red, and a short miniskirt, like she had just gone off being mischievous.

"Get out!" Kouji said real contemptibly, but he was too tired to care. He tried pushing her out, but she wouldn't budge.

"Don't you remember who I am?" she said, giggling girlishly, and smiling.

"No, now get out of my room." Kouji did know who she was, after taking five seconds to staring at her half-hideous and half-beautiful face. It was Ryusaki Miyamoto, but he just pretended not to know her.

"C'mon. Remember Jiyuugaoka Middle School, me, Ryusaki Miyamoto! The one and only that you love."

"I don't know you, now get out."

"Yes you do! Stop being stupid! I see that crappy puke-purple looking hat on your desk! It belongs to that stupid girl, Orimoto Izumi's isn't it? Isn't it? She got me expelled! And for no reason!"

"You are a brutal girl. Now get out. You were expelled for attempting to kill Orimoto."

"I was? All I did was do a favor for you. To get away from her."

"Yes, you did me a favor. To get away from YOU. You tried killing her, including me. You put us in danger, and we were freezing to death."

"So? What's wrong with me? I'm attractive and smart and beautiful and smart and beautiful," she said, not noticing she said the same two adjectives twice.

"And stupid, now get out of my room, you narcissist. "

"What? How dare you call me that!"

"Get out. I hate associating with you."

"Well I don't. You've gotten more muscular since the last time I saw you. My mother gave me the yelling and punishments of my life because of that shithead, Orimoto Izumi. My mother sent me abroad to study in Toronto, Canada all because of her!"

"Well, go back there. No one wants you here."

"Why are you rejecting someone who loves you so much, Kouji?"

"You have nothing more than lust, and I will never like you back. Just thinking of you being with me makes me want to puke. Now, please get out of my room. I am tired and I have a midterm tomorrow, making my future bright with my new bachelor's degree, and making my life good for myself, unlike you, hanging around the streets, degrading yourself, and throwing away your dignity. Although I don't like you at all, it's true what I just said."

"What! How dare you! All my life I wanted to be with you, and this is what you do to me! I hate you!"

"Good."

"In fact, now that I actually hear you talk, unlike back at that school where you always shut yourself up in the corner and never talked, you are so unimportant and mean! There are more guys out there who will respect me, so goodbye!"

"Okay, goodbye, now get out of my room."

She stomped away pompously, just like she always did when someone insulted her. As soon as she slammed the door, he burst out laughing. "Look how stupid she is now!" he thought, chucking to himself. He turned on his laptop again, and logged into the internet. He emailed Asami, showing what an airhead she had become and how degrading she was. He laughed while typing it, but then deleted it. He knew Miyamoto was an old friend of Asami, so he didn't want to hurt her feelings or bring back old memories. Perhaps he'd tell her when he saw her around campus sometime. Kouji turned off his laptop and finally went to bed. It was about five forty-five in the morning since Tama interrupted. He checked his alarm to wake him up at eight. He went back to bed and went to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13: Heavenly Move

**Chapter 13: Heavenly Move**

Back in Venice, Izumi was wallowing in her room, while her father just got home from talking to his boss.

"What? You're transferring the company back to Jiyuugaoka? I don't care if I get a raise, I am getting quite tired of moving and wasting money on apartments…No, Mr. Yoshimitzu, I am not defying your orders, but I do not wish to move back to Japan again… what? I'm going to be discharged if I refuse this move?… but…Yes, Mr. Yoshimitzu, I do care for my family, but… okay! We'll move. What? You're only giving me three days to do all the moving and other business? You arranged the moving vans and the people buying this house? You arranged a house for my daughter and wife to live in? The furniture will be forwarded and sent before us to the new house? Good… Later…" he thought, reminiscing of the discussion he just had with his boss.

Mr. Orimoto slammed the door and was disconsolate. How was he going to tell his daughter, Izumi, and his wife, Mrs. Orimoto? He knew his wife wouldn't be happy, because she was content with her job and her co-workers, who were her friends. On the other hand, he knew Izumi had always wanted to go back to Jiyuugaoka since she was in seventh grade. What was he going to do? Izumi came from her room into the kitchen and said,

"Come to dinner, father."

Mr. Orimoto headed for the kitchen as Izumi set the table and placed appetizers on the dining table. As she put the food up to her mouth, she noticed that her father had not touched his food.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

"Let's wait for your mother to come home."

"Why?"

"Because, I have something to tell the both of you."

"Oh," said Izumi in a downcast tone, as she headed to her room. She paced in her room, wondering if she did something wrong. She tried remembering the days of the week, to see if she did something bad. She couldn't think of anything. But she knew that her father, who liked to eat, when he wanted to wait for her mother, something was wrong.

"Izumi, come down here," her father called from downstairs.

"Coming, dad," Izumi called from her room. She ran down the stairs, seeing her mother hanging her coat and taking her shoes off and replacing them with fluffy slippers. As Izumi walked down the stairs, her mother said,

"Izumi, you know not to walk around the house with no slippers."

"Yes, mom," she replied quietly and went to get some from the closet. She walked to the kitchen, where her mother and father were. She sat down quietly and slowly. She was beginning to worry. "What did I do?" she thought. Her mother casually poured herself soup, but her father was like he was literally stuck on his chair, and like his hands were glued to the seat.

"What's wrong? Usually you'd be chomping down on food by now," Mrs. Orimoto said, slurping soup.

"…I…" Mr. Orimoto said, stuttering.

"You what?"

"Uhh…"

"What did you do wrong? Did you kill my bonsai tree? Did you break one of my vases? Did Izumi do something wrong? Say it already."

"WehavetomovebacktoJiyuugaoka…" said Mr. Orimoto, unbelievably fast.

"What!" said Izumi and Mrs. Oritmoto at the same time.

"We… have to…" Mr. Orimoto stammered.

"We have to what? I'm losing patience," said his wife, chewing on meat.

"We have to… move…"

"WHAT? WHERE?" said Mrs. Orimoto, exploding, spitting out her food, and slamming her hands on the table. Her soup spilled onto the table. Izumi was shocked, but she didn't say anything. She quietly sat there, like she was minding her own business.

"… Jiyuugaoka…" he finally spat out.

"What!" erupted Mrs. Orimoto. Izumi had an obnoxious smile on her face. Mrs. Orimoto wasn't happy.

"Izumi, go to your room," Mr. Orimoto said. Izumi immediately ran to her room, smiling. She was finally going to be able to see Minamoto Kouji and possibly Ichiyusai Asami.

"Why are you telling me this!" Izumi heard her mom from the kitchen.

"It's not my fault! They would've fired me if I refused! We have to move in two days."

"But I don't want to leave everything behind!"

"You're going to meet your old friends back in Jiyuugaoka!"

"But I don't want to leave the new ones I made here! Oh yeah, what about moving vans and the people who are going to buy this house, packing, and buying a new house? How are we going to do this in three days!"

"My boss arranged everything, so all we need to worry about is to make the house look presentable and pack all our things. He arranged the moving vans, the people buying this house, moving our furniture, and the others."

"What about the car?"

"Mr. Yoshimitzu said he'd buy us a new one, and we might as well give the old one to the newcomers in this house."

"Oh. I didn't like that car anyway. But why is he moving?"

"He said progress isn't very good here, so he decided to move back to Jiyuugaoka."

"Why so quickly and all of a sudden?"

"I don't know, it was his decision, and it was kind of spontaneous of him."

Izumi thought for a minute. She didn't want her mom to be melancholy. She felt like she was in her mother's position, back when she had to immediately had to leave from Iwate-san Mountains. Her mother and father were still arguing about the move.

"All right, we'll go back, but I'd like to visit my friends here sometime," said Mrs. Orimoto seriously, finally agreeing. Izumi smiled from her room. Izumi immediately ran to the closet and pulled out all her clothes and luggage bags and threw it all on her bed.

"Izumi!" her mother called from the kitchen.

"Coming!" said Izumi, as she flung her skirts onto the floor, and headed down the stairs. "Yes?" she said in an innocent tone, as soon as she got down.

"We have made the decision that we are moving to Jiyuugaoka. We need to leave in two days. However, your mother isn't happy about it, and she'd like to come back sometime. Well, Izumi it seems you're getting what you want by sheer luck," said Mr. Orimoto, and Mrs. Orimoto, pouting while eating udon. She was a little too old to be pouting though. Izumi smiled. "Oh yes, I need to sign you out of school and pay your dormitory rent for this month," he added. "Honey, I know you're angry, but please understand."

"I know…" said Mrs. Orimoto, giving a fake smile to him, and went to her room. Mr. Orimoto looked at her, knowing she was unhappy. He was mad at himself. Why couldn't some other company transfer instead of his? He walked upstairs, the food on the table, abandoned. He walked past Izumi's room, and saw her packing happily and throwing hangers everywhere crazily.

"Izumi, do me a favor, don't look too happy when we leave, because your mother isn't."

"Yes, I know, dad."

He left Izumi's room, and went on to his room. He saw his dear wife, wallowing in her own sadness in a chair.

"Honey, I know you're sad, I guess this shows how Izumi felt when we dragged her here in such a hurry back in Jiyuugaoka."

"Yes, I know, I have some friends in Jiyuugaoka, but I don't want to leave my newfound friends. Promise me we will visit again."

"Yes, yes, we will."

"Thank you," she said, and hugged her husband, then went to the closet to grab her luggage bags and started taking down clothes.

Izumi was happier than she ever been. She was already done with her clothes. She had to move her furniture out of the house. She went downstairs and called her father.

"Dad! When do we move furniture?"

"When we're all done packing clothes and belongings."

Izumi went back upstairs. She sorted through her clothes and put them into piles. Her skirts, tops, and other clothing items. She took them all of her hangers and folded them neatly into her suitcase. It was already bulging full when she finished putting her clothes in. She got another bag, and put certain belongings, such as her books, decorations for her room, pictures, and other valuables. That one filled up, and she scanned the whole room to see if she missed anything. She ran to the wall, and took down the Iwate-san Mountains fieldtrip class picture from the wall. She lovingly and carefully put it in her duffel bag, with her other belongings. Her room was lonely and empty now, with the exception of bare furniture lying around.

"Izumi!" her mother called from her room.

"Yes, mom?" she called from the doorframe of her room.

"Take your blankets and pillows too."

"Okay!" Izumi said, and went back to her room.

She had only one bag left. She grabbed it and opened it. She got her bed sheets and folded them carefully, then her pillowcases and pillows. Her mother and father were doing the same thing. Her father ran past her room and to the phone to call the moving company for directions. Her mother asked one of her friends for spare boxes. She also drove to the university to sign her out of school and pick up her grades. Mrs. Orimoto was content with her grades, then drove back home.

"I signed you out of school, Izumi."

"Okay, mom," said Izumi, walking very slowly with one of her luggage bags in her hands, and putting it in the pile with her parent's pile of luggage.

"I needed to get some boxes, so I got some from friends."

"I need to put my computer and television other things in there."

"Izumi! The moving people will take care of the heavy things!"

"Yes mom," Izumi said, looking at the floor.

Izumi's parents and her walked throughout the whole house, seeing if they overlooked anything. Only furniture and heavy things were left. Things such rugs, lamps, clocks, and other miscellaneous things were put in boxes. Mr. and Mrs. Orimoto move every piece of furniture downstairs. They finished this whole process within the time Mr. Orimoto's boss allotted. Izumi had to clean the entire house, which made her exhausted. Since their beds were moved downstairs and stripped of their bedding, they slept on the sofa for the night. Izumi didn't mind. She was too happy to care. Her mother and father kept squirming through the night though. The next morning, the people buying the house came by and looked around. They were very content with the car offer and accepted. Izumi's parents discussed matters, insurance, and other things concerning buying homes. They were done discussing after two hours. They left, and the movers came, they did everything within an hour, and Mrs. Orimoto offered them something to eat, but they didn't want to trouble her. Everyone was stressed out, including Izumi. All they wanted to do was sleep. Meanwhile, Mrs. Orimoto was calling her friends to say goodbye, asking phone numbers to keep in touch, and crying at the same time. Izumi felt really bad. She didn't want her mother to be in pain, but she couldn't do much, except give her a hug. A moving van picked them up and drove them to the airport. They did everything, clearing with passports. Izumi went to the souvenir shop to pick up a memento before she left. She bought a small stuffed animal, which was a cute, little stuffed cow.

"Why did you waste your money on that Izumi?" her mother asked, while sitting by the boarding platform.

"I just did," she replied back.

Her father called, telling them that it was time to leave. While boarding, Izumi walked quite fast, and to their compartment. She wanted to be by the window seat to take one last look at Venice, Italy, even though she didn't make any friends. The plane took off. She watched her town she called home become smaller and tinier until clouds billowed over her view. She'd be able to see Kouji again and hopefully, she'd be enrolled in Jiyuugaoka University. The plane headed for Jiyuugaoka.


	14. Chapter 14: Entwinement

**Chapter 14: Entwinement**

Meanwhile, Kouji was sitting in class. He had already crammed for his midterm, and felt confident that he knew everything. As soon as he got his test, he didn't know half of the questions. He just did everything, hoping it would be right. He turned in his test to his sensei, and looked at the board. His sensei assigned some work with his textbooks. Kouji opened his books, flipped to the correct page, and stared into the assigned page. He was too tired to read or pay attention. He stared into the text in his books. It all became one big black blur. He tried very hard to stay up, but his head fell onto the book, and he went to sleep.

"Minamoto," his professor said.

The person sitting next to Kouji nudged him. "Wake up, Minamoto."

"Huh?" Kouji said tiredly, and looked up. He saw the mean face of his professor. "Yes?" he said innocently, yet very tiredly.

"Kouji, if you want to go to sleep, go back to your dormitory," he said in a serious tone.

"I apologize," he said tiredly, and took out a piece of paper and started doing his assigned work. He glanced at his watch. It was only one and a half-hour of the class. "Thirty more minutes…" he thought, and struggled doing his questions. He had to do it and manage to stay awake because the paper was due by the end of class. He tiredly wrote every answer and turned it in. By the time he finished, the class ended. He walked slowly, like a zombie, to his dormitory. Surprisingly, Tama wasn't there, but he was too sleepy to care where he was. He went to his room, set an alarm, and collapsed on his bed. He slept for two hours. His alarm went off and it was time for him to go to work. He put his uniform on and drove to work. He went to his post to the cash register, staring at the wall. He didn't even notice Asami walk in. She too was stressed out.

"I'd like hazelnut coffee, please," she asked quietly.

"Huh?" said Kouji, snapping out of his dozing zone.

"I'd like hazelnut coffee, Kouji," she said nicely.

"Oh, Hi, Asami, sorry. I'm so tired lately."

"Ever since you got this job you are."

"And my grades are slipping too. My roommate is so stupid. I don't even know how he got in the first place if he's a drunk."

"I see…"

"By the way, I saw Ryusaki Miyamoto yesterday. I couldn't believe she remembered me. I forgot all about her. And she was SO hopeless. She's acts like hooker now, since she couldn't get an education."

"You did? I didn't even remember her until you mentioned her now. I don't like her anymore. Really? Hah. That's funny. She deserves it. After what she did. I mean, she was my friend and all but real friends don't do cruel things like that."

"Here's your coffee."

"Thanks," she said, handing him money. Asami looked around at everyone who was chattering with their friends."Geez everyone in this damn coffeeshop has friends, don't they? Oh well."

"You have other friends."

"Yes, but their not someone I can depend on. All they want is my homework from me."

"Oh."

"Anyway, I have to study. It was nice talking to you," she said nicely and left.

No customers came for the rest of the afternoon, and Kouji signed off and went home. He only had a little bit of work for class, since it was the end of the semester. When he got home, Tama still wasn't there. He didn't care, and went to his room. He got the papers he wrote. He couldn't believe he got high marks on both of them. They were both horribly written and he didn't feel like he deserved him, but maybe it was just luck. He turned on his laptop, then went onto the Internet, and logged into the main site to check his grades. They have all pulled up incredibly due to his half-baked papers, but he had more things to worry about. His midterms. He hoped he at least got satisfactory on them, and would do well on the near future ones. He had a lot of time to study tonight, so he spent the rest of the night studying. He really wanted to get a high mark, and didn't take a break, so it started driving him insane. He banged his head on the wall. It was sort of idiotic for him to do, but it relieved stress for him. "Why, why, why…" he said, while banging his head on the wall. After mindless banging, he felt confident that he knew everything that the course covered, so went to sleep to gain the lost hours from last night. Tama never came home.

Meanwhile, Izumi was flying on the plane heading onto Jiyuugaoka, Japan. She hated having her ears popped. Maybe she could fall asleep and not have to feel it. But she couldn't sleep. She was too excited. She was surprised how this all happened in a matter of three days. She'd be able to see the people she hadn't seen in seven years. She was bored, so she looked into the catalogs in front of her. The things they advertised were quite funny and convenient, but useless. She put the magazine and looked at something else to do. Her mother and father were asleep. She looked out the window, but all she saw was clouds. It was winter, and there wasn't much to see. This weather reminded her too much of Kouji. She had the want to be with him, but she felt that he wouldn't care, either that or he'd try to avoid her. Kouji also had feelings for her, he hid them all the time, but Izumi didn't know it. She sighed, watching the puffy white clouds pass by. The white clouds reminded her of snow, and Kouji's bravery. Everywhere she looked, something would remind her of Kouji. She tried getting it out of her mind. She asked the hostess if it was safe to use electronics, and turned on her laptop. She started writing up a personal statement, like her father wanted, so she could enroll in Jiyuugaoka University, or the nearest one around. The entire thing bore her, so she stopped in the middle of typing. She had nothing else better to do. Her father was snoring, and her mother, also sleeping quietly. She stared at her black gloves. Since it was winter, she was wearing nice winter clothes. It reminded her of Iwate-san Mountains. She was wearing a black blazer, with a white turtleneck. She wore black slacks and black boots. They were very sleek and made out of leather. She knew her father would get a huge raise after this move. She was getting quite tired of moving. She wished she could keep the friends she made. Kouji probably forgot about her. She fingered the necklace Asami gave her, and she could still remember the feel of Kouji's trembling hug seven years ago. She smiled, and went back to looking out the window. It was already dusk. She got tired just staring at the small window. She requested a pillow and blanket from the hostess. As soon as she gave them to her, she wrapped herself and went to sleep. After thirteen hours, the plane landed.

"Izumi, wake up," her mother said softly. Izumi was a heavy sleeper, so when her mother nudged her, Izumi whacked her in the nose.

"OWW!" Mrs. Orimoto screamed

"Huh?" Izumi said groggily.

"You banged my nose! And we're in Jiyuugaoka now."

"WE ARE?" Izumi bursted, standing up very quickly, hitting her head on the ceiling. All the passengers looked at her like she was either a stupid tourist or crazy. Izumi immediately blushed and said, "Sorry" quietly. She immediately boarded off. "Hurry up, mom, dad," she urged ahead, walking fast. As soon as she got out, all she did was stare. She couldn't believe she was in Jiyuugaoka already. All she could think of was to see Kouji again. And possibly give back the necklace to Asami as she promised long ago.

"C'mon, Izumi, we need to get our luggage."

"Oh yeah, I forgot," she replied back, recovering from her shock of being back in Japan.

While waiting for her luggage with her dad and mom, she was getting bored, so she saw a nearby stand, which sold souvenir merchandise. She walked at the souvenir stand, and bought a small purple jingle keychain, with a small cat at the end, which could put on cell phones. She paid the cart cashier and walked back to the luggage claim. As she went back, her mother saw her with a bag. As she approached them, her mother said,

"You wasted your money on that? You like to buy useless things."

"Just as remembrance."

"Remembrance for what?"

"My first day being back here."

Mrs. Orimoto still thought she had wasted her money, but Izumi didn't care. They waited to claim the rest of their luggage, and then Mr. Orimoto called his boss on his cell phone to arrange a van to take them to their new home. It was quite convenient how Mr. Yoshimitzu arranged practically everything for all his workers. Mr. Orimoto worked for a big franchise, so at rare times, they had to move. And these were one of those times. After getting off the phone, Mr. Orimoto led his wife and daughter outside, waiting. Izumi was getting agitated and bored, having to wait and wait for the van to come. After thirty minutes, it came at last. Izumi gave a heavy sigh, loading the entire luggage. Her mother went inside, to the second passenger seat, and her father sat in the front. The van driver was one of his co-workers, so he drove them to their new house, located in the middle of Jiyuugaoka, near Mr. Orimoto's work. Mr. Yoshimitzu arranged everything, and Mr. Orimoto felt as he couldn't accept it. The house, the new car, he just simply couldn't accept it. Mr. Yoshimitzu had his new house arranged, and had got the family a car. Mr. Yoshimitzu insisted that he take this, and it was only a little bit of money, and said that he invested a heck of a lot more money than the money he spend on housing and a car; with the franchise they were in. His boss also said it was a gift for helping the company improve so much, and he wouldn't let him take it back. Mr. Orimoto had no choice, but to consent to everything, so he gratefully accepted. As soon as they opened the door to their new home, every piece of furniture was already there. They had forwarded their furniture. It wasn't assembled into proper places. Izumi's bed was lying in the middle of the living room. Mrs. Orimoto commented, "Honey, you're company can't think logically and put furniture in its logical place? Who puts beds in the middle of the living room! And why would they put blenders in the bathroom! They said they'd assemble everything"

"Sorry, I guess they were in a hurry," he replied back. "Well, at least they gave us a new beautiful silver car,"

"I'm too tired to move anything. We'll do it tomorrow," said Mrs. Orimoto, and lied on her bed, next to Izumi's, in the middle of the living room. They all fell into bed, exhausted from everything that had occurred all in three days. The next day, it was raining. Mr. Orimoto went with Izumi to Jiyuugaoka University to enroll her. She turned in her essay and filled out forms. They sent it to the main office and told her that they would send her a letter saying if she would be able to transfer. Izumi and Mr. Orimoto left. Mr. Orimoto went into the car, but Izumi wanted to look around further.

"Where are you going?" her father asked.

"I want to look around, I'll walk home."

"What? It's raining. I don't want you to catch cold."

"Please, dad."

"Well, ask your mother first, then you can go."

"Oh, all right," Izumi said, while pouting; closing her umbrella, and opening the car door and got in with her dad. They drove back home. As soon as the reached their destination, Izumi busted through the door, asking,

"Mom, may I look around a little bit?"

"Why?"

"I just want to see Jiyuugaoka."

"It's raining, why don't you wait till tomorrow."

"Please? I haven't been here for seven years."

"Well okay, but bring an umbrella, a warm jacket, and take the car! I don't want you walking around in the cold rain. Also, the car is new, so don't drive too fast."

"Okay, mom," Izumi said, hurriedly, rummaged through her luggage bag with clothes, took out her black peacoat, grabbed an umbrella, took the keys from the table, and rushed through the door.

"What's her hurry to see this place?" Mrs. Orimoto mumbled.

"She missed the place, that's why."

"Yes, I know. But she should stay and help us unpack things," she said, opening another box of room things, such as candles and curtains. "Honey, don't you think Mr. Yoshimitzu is being too nice? Last time in Venice, we had to buy our own stuff."

"Yes, but he said that since it was such of an spontaneous time, he got us all of this. I asked my co-workers. They also got the same things as we did."

"Oh, but it looks like Mr. Yoshimitzu is just squandering his money."

"Well, it's his, not ours to spend. Besides, he's very wealthy."

"I see," Mrs. Orimoto concluded and went back to unpacking.

Izumi walked to the car, umbrella in hand. Her boots made noise while walking to the car. She got in, started it up, and drove around slowly. She knew it wasn't safe to drive fast in the rain, of course. She looked around. Everything was the same, except some new shopping areas have been built. While looking around, she saw the semi-tall building of her previous elementary school. It was still the same, and she still wondered if Yanagimoto-sensei still taught there. Izumi pulled into the school faculty parking lot, got out of her car, and opened her black umbrella. It was around nine, but she doubted that school was open. At least, she hoped the time hadn't changed. The cherry blossoms weren't blossoming. She saw the marble stone bench she always sat on, under the sakura blossoms. "Izumi is stupid," was still etched by Miyamoto under then bench. Izumi checked herself to see if it was there. She looked to her left, seeing an oak tree. There was a red bench under it. Miyamoto used to sit there with her lousy clique, doing nothing but talking about other out of boredom. Asami used to sit there also. She walked away, to the door of the school. Her leather boots, making sounds throughout the hallway. She was right. It was exactly the same. She was also surprised to see the office open on a resting day. She walked to the main office.

"Excuse me, but does Yanagimoto-sensei still teach here?" she asked politely to the school's main desk secretary.

"Yes, she does. Do you wish to speak to her?"

"Yes."

"She's at a meeting, I'll leave a note. What is your name?"

"Orimoto Izumi."

"All right," she said.

Izumi left as someone called her in the hallway, as she was about to leave through the school door.

"Excuse me who are you?" Yanagimoto-sensei asked. Izumi stared at her. She looked exactly the same from seven years ago.

"Hello, Yanagimoto-sensei, it's me, Orimoto Izumi."

"Orimoto Izumi? Oh my gosh! It's been so long! You're back from Italy?"

"Yes, my father moved back."

"Let's talk," said Yanagimoto-sensei, leading Izumi though the halls. "So, how are things?" she asked Izumi.

"It's okay. I've missed this place a lot."

"You've grown a lot since the last time I saw you, except with the hat."

"I gave my hat to Kouji."

"I knew there was something between the two of you…"

Izumi blushed. "No, we're just friends."

"Heh, I'm just joking, Izumi."

"Well, it was nice visiting and seeing you again, Yanagimoto-sensei," Izumi said quietly, smiling. Yanagimoto-sensei left back to her meeting, and Izumi left through the door.

At the time being, Kouji had just woken up. He walked groggily to Tama's room, but he wasn't there. "Where is he?" Kouji thought. He hoped nothing bad had happened to him. Although Kouji wasn't very nice to him, he cared how his life was going to turn out. It was a boring Saturday, and he had to go to work. He got ready, grabbed his keys, and went to work. As he drove, it was raining. He got to the Coffee shop, put on his work apron, and stood at the coffee processing station.

"Kouji!" yelled Mr. Yasuyuki, his boss.

"Yes?" he said quietly, assembling the coffee mixers.

"I told you, you're not supposed to wear things on your head while at work. I have told you about three times now."

"Sorry boss," he said even more quietly and pulled off his bandanna. He stuffed it in his pocket, with Izumi's hat. He already forgot it was there. He arranged everything, took equipment out from the cabinets, and cleaned the tables. Asami walked in, with wet hair.

"Oh hey, Asami," Kouji said, wiping a table.

"I was at school today," she said.

"Why were you at school? Today's a Saturday."

"I was at the school library, and I saw this one girl who looked like Izumi."

"What?" Kouji said semi-loudly, looking up at Asami from wiping the table.

"I'm serious. But don't you think she'd recognize us? Maybe it was a look-alike. Izumi would've told us if she was coming back."

"It wouldn't be her. She would be wearing your necklace you gave her, wouldn't she?"

"Yeah, but I don't know. Maybe it was her. Maybe I'm being delusional."

"Yeah you are. What did she look like?"

"She had the green eyes, the golden hair, but she wasn't wearing a hat. She had a gray trench coat, a white top, black pants, and black leather boots."

"Wouldn't Izumi be wearing fuchsia, like her hat?" Kouji asked, pulling out the hat.

"You take her hat with you everywhere?"

"Well, uh… I forgot it was left in my pocket, heh." Kouji lied, blushing a little bit.

"She looked like she was turning in forms. Hopefully, they will accept her, and then we can find out about her. If her name isn't Izumi, then I will still have to wait for that heirloom."

"She hasn't come back for seven years now. I don't even know where she is anymore."

"Well, I'll check the office again."

"By the way, have you seen Tama? He hasn't come home for the past two days."

"No, I haven't. Maybe he's drunk somewhere."

"Yeah, I guess. He's got to learn how to face reality."

"Well, I'll see you later, Kouji."

"Okay."

Kouji wiped the remaining tables and went back to the cash register.

Izumi was bored and it didn't look like there was anywhere else to go. She stopped at the stoplight. Right next to it was Jiyuugaoka Coffee shop. She was really tired, and she thought she could stop for some coffee. She hadn't had any in awhile. She made a right turn and parked. She went out of her car, without her umbrella. She went inside the nice interior of the shop and looked around, her boots making watery tracks on the floor, also making noise. It was similar to many drink shops, such as the tapioca shops, which she couldn't find in Venice, like she could here. She walked up to the cash register. Kouji was looking down, and didn't even know Izumi was right in front of her. Izumi stared at him like he looked familiar, but scratch that. "Wouldn't Kouji know who she was?" She kept staring at him. That _MUST_ be Kouji. He wasn't wearing his usual clothes, but his hair resembled him too much. The sideburns, the ponytail. He wasn't wearing a bandanna, though. "No, it couldn't be him…" she thought sadly. She wished she could see him again. She didn't even know he was right there in her face. Kouji asked glumly, "May I take your order?"

"Yes, I'd like a caramel frappuchino," Izumi said quietly.

"Okay, that will be sevent—," Kouji said, finally looking up. He was dumbfounded. The person standing right in front of him looked exactly like Izumi, except more beautiful. "Ahem, sorry, I mean your total will be seventy yen," he said while clearing his throat." Izumi gave him the money, and walked slowly to a table, her boots making noise as she walked. "Is that Kouji?" she thought to herself. "I missed him so much when I went back to Venice, but… no… it couldn't be him." She sat there quietly, thinking. Kouji went to make her coffee he opened a blender and thought, "Is that Izumi? I think she would say something if she were coming back. Izumi's favorite color of all time was fuchsia. Why was she wearing black? I wish she was here…" Kouji thought. He finished mixing ingredients and topped it with whipped cream and caramel. He walked to her table, slowly, still trying to figure out who she was. "Here, enjoy," he said, and quickly walked away to the back. "Excuse me," Izumi said very quietly. "Yes?" Kouji said, not turning around. "…Excuse me for asking, but… are you Minamoto Kouji?" Kouji stared at her like she had never seen her in his life. His hand was in his pocket, clutching Izumi's hat.


	15. Part 4: At Last

**_Part Four: At Last..._**

**Chapter 15: Kouji and Izumi Meet

* * *

**

"Kouji? Kouji? Is that you...?" Izumi asked, standing up, walking to him, her boots making loud noises throughout the whole shop. A silence billowed through the entire store. Izumi stared at Kouji, whose back was turned. "…K-kouji? It's me, Orimoto Izumi," she said quietly, but tearfully.

"...No..." Kouji hesitated. He was so shocked that it was really Izumi, he wanted to hug her, but he didn't want to show feelings. And he didn't want her to know. He wanted to tell Izumi what he felt… but couldn't find the courage at all. "...My name is Hashimoto Kogyo..." Kouji lied, going back to his post at the coffee processing station. He couldn't believe he did that. He faked cleaning by quickly grabbing a rag, faking to clean the table around him, when Izumi could clearly see that the table was sparkling clean. She was also in a state of shock. She saw that when the mysterious figure she thought as Kouji, when he walked away, she saw her favorite fuchsia hat sticking out of his jet black pants. It **WAS** Kouji. Why did he lie to her? Kouji was what Izumi had been dying to see for seven years. She stood there, in a sad state. Kouji didn't like her anymore? Or was it he wanted to keep the hat so badly? What would Kouji want with a silly old hat that would not fit him and not meant for boys to wear? Kouji kept faking wiping the area while thinking, "Why did I lie to her? I missed her all these years, and I lie to her…" Izumi eyes began to fill with tears, but she wouldn't let it out. She grabbed her coffee from the table and walked quickly out the door, into the rain. She didn't go to her car and walked one block away from Jiyuugaoka Coffee shop. She just stood there, the rain dripping into her coffee and hair. "Did everyone forget about me?" Izumi asked herself, cringing in her own sadness. "I should've just stayed in Venice." Kouji walked outside from his work. It was raining, and Kouji put on his bandanna to not get his hair soaked. How could he do this? He had to admit, in his mind, he liked Izumi, the separation made him like her even more. He missed her. Why'd he have to lie? Was he that afraid? Afraid of what she thought of him? Izumi's jacket was getting really wet, so she turned back to her car, near Jiyuugaoka Coffee shop. Izumi's boots clacked, as she saw Kouji, with his back turned, black pants, his same blue jacket as he'd always worn, standing in the rain. She went to her car to get her black umbrella. She walked slowly to Kouji. Kouji thought it was just some pedestrian, so he didn't bother turning around. "I miss her…" he thought. He looked down on the sidewalk, water drops from the sky dripping down his face and being absorbed by his clothes. All of a sudden, the water drops stopped falling. Kouji turned around. It was Izumi, with her umbrella, with him. His face was too close to hers. He took a step back. "Hello, Kouji. It's been a long time," Izumi said very quietly.

Kouji blushed fiery red. "How did she know it was me?" he thought.

"Hello, Kouji," Izumi said again. Kouji said nothing and stared at her emerald green eyes with a sad gaze.

"Its nice to see you again," Izumi said once more.

Kouji couldn't think of anything to say. He kept looking down at the wet asphalt.

Kouji immediately turned red, but didn't say anything. There was an uncomfortable silence.

"May I have my hat back?" Izumi asked.

Kouji clenched his hand. It was the only thing he had left of her. He felt that Izumi didn't feel the same about him. But he reluctantly listened and got her hat out of his pocket. He slowly handed it to Izumi.

"Here."

"Thank you, Kouji," she said silently, touching Kouji's hand without knowing it. Kouji was shocked for about a second and dropped the hat. "Oh! Gomen nasai! I'll pick it up," Kouji said in surprise, "No, I'll get it," Izumi said. They both bent down to get the hat, and both knocked each other in the head. "Ow!" Izumi said, falling onto her bottom upon the wet sidewalk, water splattering on the bottom part of her jacket. "Great… I just dry cleaned this jacket, and my pants are wet," she though. "I'm sorry!" Kouji said, holding his hand out. Izumi remembered that from Iwate-san Mountains. Izumi accepted, her hand touching his rain-covered hand. Although Kouji helped, Izumi didn't feel that Kouji would want to be with her. "I'm very sorry, Orimoto-san," Kouji said, with a bit of disconsolation in his voice. "If you want, I'll dry clean it and pay for it," he said, trying to make an offer.

"No, it's all right," Izumi said, standing there, waiting for Kouji to say something. Kouji thought he might as well say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth to say two words, Mr. Yasuyuki, his boss, yelled from the coffee shop,

"Minamoto! Get your butt down here! There's customers waiting! What are you doing out there? You know well enough you're not to leave your post till you finish your shift, you moron!"

"What a mean boss," Izumi thought.

"Sorry, Mr. Yasuyuki," Kouji said submissively, walking back into the shop. He had the expression of hatred for his boss clearly marked on his face.

Izumi stared at him from outside the shop, water splashing upon the umbrella and running down the umbrella. She thought for a minute. She marched into the shop; Kouji looking up to she what she was going to do. Izumi walked right up to Mr. Yasuyuki, and said, "I'm very sorry if I slowed down progress. I told Kouji to go outside."

"Oh." Mr. Yasuyuki said with no look of interest.

Izumi excused herself and walked outside, boots making noise and all. Kouji excused himself right in the middle of taking a customer's order and slammed the door open.

"Orimoto!" he called to Izumi.

"Yes?"

"I…I'm sorry I lied to you about who I was."

"Kouji…why did you lie? There's nothing to hide from."

"Well, uh…"

Izumi just stared at him, puzzled. Kouji kept looking at the ground, yet again. "What are you trying to say?" Izumi finally said. Kouji couldn't say anything. Kouji looked up and stared at her. "I can't do it…" Kouji thought. He slowly put his arm around her neck, and held her tightly. Izumi was shocked and dropped her purse on the soaked ground. She stood there like a branch, like Kouji would when she hugged him. Kouji remained silent, as he did not want to look stupid or lovey-dovey in front of her. He kept hugging her tight, as a showing of how much he missed her all the years. Izumi was still shocked, because Kouji was the last person she'd expect to show affection for anyone. Kouji was cold as stone, in her opinion. But she missed him very much throughout the long seven years, and to her surprise, she dearly cared for him, even if he was cold. Kouji cared for Izumi dearly, but couldn't find the words to say anything or even wanted to say anything. She finally hugged him back, the rain both dripping onto them. As she didn't want the moment to end, Kouji broke away and ran back into the shop.

Izumi walked back into the coffee shop, seeing Kouji hastily taking orders from people. Izumi stood at the far end of the shop where the door was, standing there silently. She smiled serenely and left, walking into the rain and back to her car. Izumi silently drove back to her house, the rain quietly pattering and splashing among and along her car. She stared right through the dashboard; the windshield wipers just passing back and forth to her like it wasn't there.

The customers had left, and Kouji was staring into space like there was no tomorrow. He wondered and pondered why he hugged Izumi. He continually stared, thinking about her. She had changed a lot as what he remembered of her seven years ago. Izumi no longer had the cheerful spirit she used to. She was now quiet and had developed a "no-nonsense" attitude and didn't wear fuchsia, her most favored color. She seemed to now like black and white. He also noticed she had become more serious and all the naïve-like persona had left her. He also observed that Izumi aside from her more beautiful complexion, was now a lonely soul, just like he was. Izumi was just like him. Yearning for friends and joy in her life, yet she couldn't show it anymore due to being isolated for seven years. As he gazed into space, it had hit him. It finally came to him that he dearly cared for Izumi and he didn't want to say it or even think of it, but he loved her, not because she was beautiful, but because of who she really was. After all that thinking, surprisingly, his shift was done. All his musing and contemplating took up an hour. He hung his apron and said, "See you tomorrow," to his boss. He walked out the door, his gray sneakers making noises while walking. He walked to his car, the rain splattering on his indigo bandanna, and drove back to his dormitory.


	16. Chapter 16: Rain and Snow

**Chapter 16: Rain and Snow  
**

Izumi finally came home. She stepped out of the car, looking unhappy. It was still raining, but she could care less if the rain poured all over her. Her golden hair was beyond wet like she had just taken a shower, her leather jacket containing water droplets, and her pants wet in the back. Her gray turtleneck was the only thing semi-dry. She grabbed her umbrella from the backseat of the car, slammed the door, locked it, and walked inside. She knocked on the white door of her new house. Her mother instantly opened the door.

"Izumi, look at you! You're soaked!" she immediately told her.

"I'm sorry, mom," Izumi said, looking at the wooden floor, acting like it was no big deal. She looked around, seeing that her parents have already assembled the living room and kitchen with furniture and accessories where they belonged. Izumi walked in and hung her wet jacket on the coat rack. She took her black boots off and set them near the coat rack. She slowly walked to the newly placed couch.

"Izumi, what did you do? You look like you went swimming in a park fountain," her mother questioned, wiping a plate with a washcloth in her hand.

"I didn't do anything," Izumi said, looking at the wooden floor.

"Izumi, do you know what an umbrella is? You open it and it protects you from weather conditions, now you might get sick from playing in the rain," her mother nagged.

"I just walked around and bought some coffee," Izumi replied in an annoyed tone, pouting.

"Without an umbrella?" her mother said again.

"Honey, she's not going to die if she walked in the rain," her father said, watching television.

"Fine," Mrs. Orimoto grumbled, then changed her face expression. "Would you like anything to eat?"

"No, thanks" Izumi concluded, and walked upstairs to her new room, which she still hadn't assembled and moved things into place yet. She walked into her fresh new room The basics, such as her bed, drawers, and such had arrived and were in the proper places. Her luggage was also placed on the floor. She sat on the floor and opened her bags. She dumped all her clothes out and threw them into drawers, dividing them into pants, shirts, socks, and other clothing. She then opened her second luggage bag, which contained hangers and room decorations. She carefully took out the hangers and placed them in her closet. She opened her third bag, which was separated from everything else, which were all her designer clothes. She took them out, and hung them all in the closet. She also took out her shoes and placed them in the closet. She went back to her bag full of room accessories and first hung the seventh grade class trip picture. She took other things, like her laptop, and several miscellaneous things. After she was finally finished, it was already ten o' clock. She took the bed sheets out of her bag, and spread it out on her bed. She threw out an uncovered pillow on her bed. She reached into her second bag and took out her toothbrush and toothpaste. She was too exhausted to do anything else or use any of her face-care products. She walked into the bathroom and brushed her teeth. She walked back into her room, crashed into her bed, turned off the light, but couldn't fall asleep. She kept thinking about what had happened at the coffee shop. "…My name is Hashimoto Kogyo…" she remembered in her mind. "Why did he lie?" she thought. "I missed him so much…" She could still feel the trembling hug from Kouji back at the shop. She got up from her bed, turning on her desk lamp. She opened her desk drawer, taking out the hat she had not worn or seen in seven years. She sat down on the desk chair. She savored it, holding it in her hand. A rush of thoughts of remembering Kouji and all the things he had done for her. Being nice to her despite Miyamoto's snobbish ways. Offering her tissue. Helping and teaching her to climb. Pulling her up from the many cliffs they climbed. Lending her his tent while he slept outside in the snow. Literally saving her life from the horrors of drowning and suffocating. Offering her the only jacket he had despite the fact that he didn't have another one. Hugging her although he felt uncomfortable doing so. Izumi looked up from her desk chair. She finally realized she deeply cared and loved Kouji. And after all he did for her, she realized she didn't say "Thank you," the minute she saw him. Kouji did not change very much, as what of Izumi thought. His hair was a bit longer, but he still kept the same attire. And his attitude was exactly the same. Quiet, introverted, hardly revealing anything about himself. Except Kouji somehow became even shyer, as Izumi seen. Izumi smiled and grinned at the thoughts about him. She got up from her chair, slowly placed the hat back in her desk, and went back to bed and fell asleep.

Kouji had just gotten home. He opened the door to his dorm, and there was Tama, actually studying with his textbooks open and all. At first Kouji thought it wasn't real. As he walked closer, it actually was Tama, reading his Chemistry book and drinking coffee. Kouji was already sick of the aroma of coffee from working too much. Kouji just stared at him. "Is that Tama? Or some other guy that looks like Tama?" he thought.

"What?" Tama said sharply, looking up from his book.

"I'm sorry, you must be in the wrong dormitory," Kouji said, with a little joke in his voice.

"Stop playing jokes, Kouji. I took what you said seriously to me two days ago. I realized I should be making use of myself."

"Oh," Kouji said, a little shocked from seeing this.

"My grades are below average and if I can pass my midterms, I can get an average in total. So I am studying now. I have a midterm in two days and four more this week."

"I'm almost done, I have one left in Organic Chemistry, it's a two part test, then I can go home for vacation," Kouji said, opening the refrigerator, surprised to see that there were no more Asahi beer in there. He took out a plate of food and heated it up in the microwave.

"Do you need help?" Kouji asked nicely while chomping on food.

"No, thanks. I need to learn how to do things on my own without depending on people," he said, reading his books and taking notes. Kouji didn't say anything and went to his room. He sat on his blue desk chair and reached into his pocket. The usual wasn't in his pocket. Izumi's hat wasn't in there. He sighed, knowing that the only thing he had left of her was gone. He missed her. But he couldn't do much and he didn't want to either. He took his indigo bandanna off and went to sleep.

Izumi woke up the next morning. It was a rainy Sunday, and she had to go to Jiyuugaoka University to get her schedules and housing papers. It turns out they accepted her. She got up, did a regular routine just like when she was in Italy. Go to the bathroom, go downstairs and eat breakfast, go brush her teeth, and get dressed. She opened her closet and took out a light color of fuchsia blouse. She put some black slacks on and a pair of black sandals. She also put the silver necklace which Asami had given before she left seven years ago. She wondered why she kept wearing it as Asami was not a close friend of hers. It felt like she had not left Italy at all since she did not feel any welcoming ambience from her friends. She grabbed her purse and left. She drove quietly, no radio on whatsoever. She drove past an intersection as a blue car executing a left turn almost slammed into her. She slammed on her brakes in the middle of traffic and intersection, she grumbled, "Stupid driver," and kept passing and drove off to Jiyuugaoka University. The person in the blue car, who unknowingly was Kouji muttered, "What a stupid, blind driver, " he mumbled, and drove off to work. Izumi arrived at Jiyuugaoka University and went into the main office area. She saw a clerk at the main desk,

"Excuse me, but I'm here to pick up my pamphlets, schedules, and paperwork," she said quietly.

"What is your name?" the clerk asked, not bothering to get up.

"Orimoto Izumi," she replied.

The clerk dug through a pile of papers, shoved pamphlets in her hands, and typed her name on the computer.

"Here is your schedule," she said in a nonchalant tone and printed it out

Izumi felt unwelcome, but accepted all the papers anyway. "Thank you," she said softly.

She left for the door, but then someone tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me," said a content, cheerful voice from behind her. Izumi immediately looked up. The voice sounded somewhat familiar to her, but she couldn't put her finger on it that it was. She slowly spun around. "Is that…" Izumi thought, in shock.

"…Orimoto Izumi, I presume?" she said nicely, smiling while also catching a glimpse of the silver chain.

"Ichiyusai Asami?" she said very quietly.

"Yes, it's me When did you get here?" she asked.

"I came here two days ago because my father's company got retransferred here, isn't that lucky…" Izumi replied back.

"Yes, it is, by the way Izumi, you've changed a lot… in fact you look great!" Asami said.

"Thank you," Izumi said, smiling, looking at the floor. "Asami …"

"Yes?"

"Could you… I mean… can you help me around this new campus. I'm not very familiar with this place."

"Let me see your schedule," Asami asked, peering at Izumi's papers. "Well, you don't have any with me; your dormitory is near mine though, isn't that great. Let's see… you're taking Psychology," Asami said, looking down through the papers. "Ah I see, you took Biology as a elective."

"Can you help me with dormitory things?"

"Sure," Asami said. "By the way, where do you live?"

"My father's boss actually bought us a new house."

"Wow, that must be cool,"

"Well, we should go and set up my dormitory and pay the housing fee and pick up my key."

"Well, okay."

Izumi and Asami walked to Izumi's car and drove home. While driving, Izumi felt weird but overjoyed to see an old friend, or almost an old friend.

"So, how is Jiyuugaoka?" Izumi asked.

"Well, it's the same. You should have a lot to tell me about Italy," Asami replied back.

"Well, it's the same also. It was kind of lonely. It may have a lot of scenery and attractions to look at, but it will get tiring after awhile, and sometimes people will attempt to steal from you. Anyway, here's my house," Izumi said.

"Will your parents be okay if I enter? I mean, I wouldn't want to interrupt or anything."

"It's fine," Izumi said, as she put her key in the keyhole. She opened the door, hung her hat and coat, and took her shoes off. "Mom, dad, I'm back from school," she called. She motioned for Asami to come in. Asami walked slowly. She was kind of shy when entering other people's homes. "You're back Izumi, who is this young lady you brought?"

"This is Asami. She was one of my friends seven years ago."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you Asami, would you like anything to drink?"

"Oh, no thank you," Asami said with a smile. "I'm just here to help Izumi move into her dormitory."

"Oh yes Izumi, I'd like to see your school schedule," her mother added, while wiping dishes. Izumi handed her mother her new schedule, and said, "Mom, I'll be taking things out of my room, yet again."

"Okay," her mother said, still looking at the papers.

Izumi and Asami walked upstairs, grabbing only the essential items. Izumi grabbed her laptop case, regular supplies, like paper and pencils. She stuffed it into a box and asked, "Asami, they are providing me a bed and a desk, correct?"

"Yes, a closet and chair, but that's it," she said, taking linen and sheets from the closet. Izumi took that and put it neatly in a box. She had moved so much it was like a routine now to her. She grabbed her suitcase and threw clothes and shoes into it. "Is there anything else I am going to need?" Izumi asked Asami. "I don't think so…" Asami said, looking around. She stared at Izumi's room. Then something caught her eye. The photo from the Iwate-san Mountains fieldtrip.

"Maybe you should take this too," Asami said, walking to the picture hanging on the wall.

"Do you still have this?" Izumi asked. 

"Well, uh, yeah," Asami said. 

"I guess that's all I'm going to need. I don't feel I need to decorate my room with unnecessary items like posters. I don't want to pack too many things."

Izumi nodded and grasped a box, heading for the stairs. They both went to the car and put the boxes in the trunk. Izumi went back inside, with Asami following.

"Oka-san, I'm going," Izumi said, walking to her mother and gave her a hug.

Asami tilted her head down and said, "Thank you very much for letting me in your wonderful home," and walked quickly out the door.

Izumi and Asami walked back to the car and drove back to Jiyuugaoka University.

"Asami, may I ask, but you seemed like you were trying to sweeten up to my mother, why is that?"

Asami put on a straightforward look. "Well, you see… I feel very uncomfortable in other peoples houses which I don't feel comfortable in."

"I see… and after my studies, it could come from being alone too much. How often do you go out?"

"Sometimes… to get coffee, to go home,"

"Well, hopefully that will get better in time," Izumi said while driving back to the university. "Asami, I know you and I haven't gotten to get to know each other well, especially when you picked a bad time to befriend me, but I suppose we can be friends from now on. I guess you want your necklace back huh?"

"Oh, no, keep it, I want you to have it," Asami said, smiling. Asami felt content now that she had found herself someone, a friend.


	17. Chapter 17: Final Frontier

**Chapter 17: Final Frontier**

Meanwhile, Kouji was at work. He had a ten-minute break, and he sat at the back of the coffee shop, leaning against the cold wall. He reached into his pocket of his black pants, but then suddenly remembered again that the hat wasn't there anymore. He started into the semi-gray sky. He missed Izumi very much. The time he had a chance to talk to her, he blew it and made up some other junk that he wished he hadn't said. He then stared at the gravel ground. He came to thinking that sometime in his lifetime he should tell Izumi of what he had been feeling for seven years for her, although it was not like him to express his feelings. But he couldn't find any courage. And he didn't want to, although he did want to tell her. His dark marine ocean blue eyes stared into space, thinking. He took a long sigh, and looked back at the partially gray sky. "I miss Izumi," Kouji thought. "Sometimes I wish she'd come to me and comfort me when I'm down, which is always, also—."

"Kouji! Your break is up!" his boss called from the interior of the coffeehouse. Kouji got up and resumed work. He grabbed a rag and wiped the dirty tables just used by customers. "Stupid lazy customers… the trash can is right there and they can't even walk a few steps to throw their crap away," he thought. "Well Kouji, you've done a good job, so your shift is over," his boss said. Kouji nodded, hung his work apron and left. He opened his car and drove back to his dorm.

Izumi was driving back to her dorm with Asami. Izumi walked to the housing office to pick up her key and walked back to her dormitory. Izumi opened the door and unpacked her boxes. She set her linen; Asami set up her desk and Internet. Izumi took out her alarm clock and bathroom necessities. Asami took out her pillows and everything was set. Izumi and Asami both hung Izumi's clothes on hangers provided in the closet and arranged the shoes. They were finally done. It was kind of bare, but it was good enough.

Kouji finally arrived home, but he'd thought he should talk to Asami. Kouji didn't feel like this nor did he want to have feelings for someone. He locked his car and walked to Asami's dormitory. It was seven o' clock at night and he walked to Asami's side of the campus, where her dormitory was located. His gray shoes were making noises as he walked on the asphalt sidewalk. Other people passes Kouji, but it was like wind to him. He didn't mind or care. He walked to Asami's dormitory, slid his keycard to open the dorm housing, and walked quietly up the stairs. He walked to Asami's room and knocked on the door. "I'm in this room," Asami called two doors away from where Kouji was standing.

"Asami," Kouji called, walking through the hallway.

Izumi's ears lit up. She immediately looked up and realized the tone of which the voice belonged to. It was Minamoto Kouji. She immediately stood up and smiled at him from her standpoint at the closet. Kouji stood by the doorframe, hands in his pockets of his blackish-gray pants.

"Uh, good evening Asami, Izumi," he said, staring at the white carpet.

"Hello Kouji," Asami said, sitting on a chair. Izumi stood there, staring at him. Kouji became quite uncomfortable just standing there like a pole, but he really couldn't think of anything to say.

"Kouji, how are you?"

Kouji immediately looked up; staring at Izumi, joyed that Izumi was talking to him. "I'm kind of tired,"

"Why?"

"Well, I'm working a lot and I stay up late most of the time to finish my work,"

"Maybe you should quit your part-time job and get your degree first," Izumi suggested.

"I can't."

"Where is your dorm, Kouji?"

"Three buildings away from this building," he said quietly, "Anyway, it was nice seeing you, Izumi," Kouji quickly walked out and left the hallway and out of the building. Izumi wanted to say something, but she didn't and just stood there.

"Izumi, are you just going to stand there and let your clothes crumple in your bag?"

"Huh? Oh, I'll help you," Izumi said, trampling over her bag.

"Are you okay, Izumi?"

"Wha— Oh, I'm fine," Izumi said, taking more clothes out.

"If something is troubling you, you can tell me," Asami said comfortingly.

"Its just, Kouji lied to me two days ago for some reason…"

"Is that what's bothering you?"

"…Yes."

"Well, Kouji tends to hide himself a lot and he doesn't like revealing himself very much, so you shouldn't except much,"

"Oh," Izumi said, taking more clothes and shoes to the closet.

"Well Izumi, I have some unfinished work to do, so I'll help you get to your classes in the morning,"

"Thanks, Asami," Izumi said, stuffing some more clothes in her drawers.

Asami opened her door and put her purse down. She decided to get some fresh air and stay outside for a little bit to clear her mind. She walked down the stairs and went outside. After three steps she noticed Kouji standing, his back turned, gazing at the sky.

"Kouji? What are you doing here?

"Huh? Oh I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing," Kouji said, and walked back to his dorm.

Asami stared at him and wondered, "Does he like Izumi? Its not like him to act like this, well he is covering up pretty well for an introverted person, but I can tell he cares very much for her,"

"Kouji!" she called.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell me what's bother you? You don't look well, aside from work and school, it looks like something's bothering you."

"No, I don't wish to tell you, but I will anyway, except you cannot repeat it to anyone."

"I won't."

Kouji stared at the ground for three seconds, gave a heavy sign, and then looked up at the sky, "I miss her…" he said and walked back to his dorm.

Asami just stared at him, "He must really love Izumi after all these years, and he never told me, but I could tell just by his actions," she thought. She walked back to her dormitory, walked back upstairs, passing Izumi's room and lied down on her bed. She finished her remaining papers and went to sleep. Izumi remained in her room, sitting on her bed, holding a pillow. "Kouji…" she thought, turned off the light, and went to sleep. Izumi woke up bright and early the next day, she opened the closet and looked for something to wear on her first day. Although first semester was almost done, she needed to meet her teachers first and buy books. It was almost Christmas, but at least she was moved in. She opened her closet door and looked for something to wear. She took out something she hadn't worn in a long time, and yet it still fit her. She took out a fuchsia skirt and a white shirt. She then took out her fuchsia trench coat. It was too cold to be wearing skirts at this season, but she just wanted to for time sake. She went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and brush her golden hair, and she put her hat on and arranged it. She knocked on Asami's door. She didn't answer the door. She knocked again. Asami fell out of bed and groggily walked to the door,

"What?" she asked tiredly, looking sleepy, and her hair very nappy. "Oh, Izumi, don't you know classes don't begin till ten? Its only seven in the morning…"

"Oh, sorry! I didn't know."

"Well its okay, I guess," Asami said. "Go downstairs to the kitchen, I'll make some breakfast." Asami and Izumi headed downstairs and ate.

Meanwhile, three buildings away, a sleeping Kouji was on his desk, smothered in papers and his laptop running. Tama woke him up.

"Kouji, wake up."

"Huh?" Kouji said, getting his face off his desk, while some of his papers fell to the floor. "Oh shit, this paper is due today and I only wrote half of it!"

"Well since you helped me realize to work harder, I'll help you with this,"

"What? I can't let you do that…"

"As a return of thanks, Kouji."

Kouji nodded fell into bed and went to sleep. Tama woke him up three hours later. "Here Kouji, I'm done."

"Thanks," Kouji said, and printed his paper out and threw it in his binder and into his backpack and walked out his room. He grabbed his bandanna off the nightstand and walked to the bathroom. He tied his hair into a tidy ponytail and tied his indigo bandanna on. It was nine-thirty. He grabbed his blue jacket and backpack and walked to class. It was a cold, foggy morning and Kouji wasn't in the mood. He was still tired. He thought of why he didn't finish his Biology paper last night. He remembered what he was doing last night. He was sitting on his chair last night, thinking of Izumi. "Izumi," he thought and walked to Organic Chemistry class.

Izumi and Asami were on campus walking around. Asami stopped saying, "Well, this is my class. You have Child Psychology right now, and it's in that building in room 243. Your last class today is Biology, which is at that building in room 1024," she explained and opened the door to her classroom and left.

"Thanks, Asami," Izumi said, looking around. "Oh crud, I think I'm lost. Okay, calm down Izumi," she thought. "Remember what Asami said. Okay… where is the psychology building? Why can't they label them? It would be so much easier." Izumi immediately ran to the University map. She skimmed through the guide. "Psychology…psychology…" she thought, while skimming through the map guide. She finally found it, and realized that the building was right in front of her. She felt embarrassed, but ran inside. "Okay, where is room 243…" she thought, quietly passing everyone else. She finally found it, and surprisingly, she was on time. She walked up to the sensei said, "Excuse me, I'm Orimoto Izumi. I just transferred here," she said, holding her books. "Oh yes, Izumi, My name is Yamamoto-sensei. I had a notice a new transfer student would be coming in. Please sit there."

"Thank you," Izumi said, sitting down quietly. Other students came and occasionally peered at her. Izumi didn't mind as she was used to people looking at her because she was distinctly standing out in the crowd. Izumi quietly took notes throughout the entire period. Meanwhile, Kouji was at his Organic Chemistry class, about to fall asleep because the lights were turned off while the overhead projector was on, the sensei babbling boring notes that Kouji already knew. Kouji's dropped the pen in his hand and fell asleep on his notes. Back where Izumi was, she remained quiet and left quietly as the session was over. She grabbed her bag and hoped to catch Asami somewhere so she could find her next class. While leaving, she heard some comments from other girls.

"That new transfer girl stands out," one girl said.

"Yeah, she does. She doesn't even bother to say 'Hi' to any of us. She must think she's better than us," another guy said.

Izumi looked down at the tiled floor while upon hearing these comments. She left without saying a word and found Asami outside.

"Izumi, how was class?"

"Pretty boring. I just took notes the entire time. I already know the things they are teaching in that room."

"Well, why don't you ask to be put in a higher class level?"

"It's fine," Izumi said, "I sort of got lost, but I eventually found my way,"

"I'm sorry Izumi, I should have walked you to your class,"

"No it's fine, I was actually on time, but it would be nice if you could take me to my biology class."

"All right," Asami said as they walked to another building where Izumi's class was.

Meanwhile, Kouji was still in class. He was still snoozing as his sensei woke him up. "Minamoto, this is the third time you've been sleeping in class, is something wrong?"

"Huh? What? I'm sorry ! I'll get back to work," Kouji said frantically, writing his notes.

"Kouji, class has been over for five minutes," he said calmly to him. "You've pulled your grade up tremendously in this class, but overly so that you stress yourself out."

"I'm sorry," he said as he yawned and grabbed his backpack and walked to Biology class. He walked tiredly to his last class for the day. He slid the door when suddenly something caught his eye. Izumi was talking to his Biology teacher. "I must be dreaming," he thought and rubbed his eyes. "Orimoto Izumi, I normally let anyone sit wherever they want, but since I only have one last opening, you'll have to sit there," the sensei said nicely, and Izumi nodded and walked to her seat. Kouji stood at the doorway, jaw open and all.

"Minamoto, is there a problem?" his sensei asked.

Kouji replied three seconds later. "What? Oh, I'm fine," he said nonchalantly. But inside he was thinking, "Oh crap! What is Izumi doing here? Now I have to sit next to her!" Kouji nervously but calmly sat next to her and took out his binder full of notes. He pulled out his written essay paper and turned it in, and went back to his seat.

"Morning, Kouji," Izumi said quietly.

"Oh hey there, Izumi," Kouji said, staring at the wooden desk.

He turned his head and looked at him. He had never noticed she had become much more beautiful since seventh grade. "Is Kouji staring at me? Pff, I wish," Izumi thought, writing her name on a piece of paper. Kouji realized what he was doing and immediately turned his head back looking forward, and wrote his name on a paper. Then he realized he just wrote Izumi's name on the paper. "Crap!" Kouji thought, and crumpled the paper. He took out another and wrote his name. Then the sensei turned on the overhead projector and turned the lights off. "Man, why does every teacher need to use an overhead projector? I don't want to fall asleep in front of Izumi," he thought, yawning at the same time. Kouji got bored listening about invertebrates from his professor and stared at his paper. He peered at Izumi, who was taking many notes while his paper had practically nothing on it.

"Crud…" he thought again.

"Kouji must be very tired if he can't take any notes," Izumi thought "Kouji, are you okay?" Izumi whispered to Kouji.

"Huh? Oh I'm fine," Kouji replied back, blushing a little bit.

Luckily, it was dark in the classroom so no one could see Kouji's face expressions. "Excuse me," the professor said, standing right in front of Izumi and Kouji. "There is no talking during my lectures," he said.

"I am sorry, I was the one who interrupted, so blame me," Izumi said quietly. Kouji was dumbfounded. Izumi took the blame for Kouji. He stared at her while sensei kept babbling on and on with his lecture. By the time class was over, Kouji still hadn't written any notes. Izumi quietly left class and Kouji followed. "Minamoto and Orimoto!" the professor called.

"Yes?" Izumi asked meekly.

"Please do no interrupt my class instruction time,"

"I am very sorry, it won't happen again," Izumi said, looking at the floor.

"Sorry," Kouji said quietly and left. Izumi followed behind him.

Izumi left the classroom and caught up to Kouji. "I'm very sorry, Kouji," Izumi said apologetically.

"It's all right. I'm used to scolding," Kouji said quietly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I that's the end of all my classes for today,"

"Mine too. I don't have to go to work for another five hours. I'm doing the night shift though."

"Izumi, why did you move in if vacation for this semester is in two days?"

"Its better for me to get settled now than after."

"Oh I see."

There was an uncomfortable silence. The wind blew in their hair.

"Kouji, how are you, I mean, as of now?" Izumi asked, to break the silence.

"Uh.." Kouji said, thinking of something to say,"

"Well, I'm studying to become a Computer Technician. I'm taking it only because my parents want me too. I'm taking Biology and Organic Chemistry as electives. I'm pretty tired lately, and I wish vacation would start already, but then I still have to work on vacations."

"I see."

"And you?"

"Well, basically, I've been stuck in Venice for a long time studying to become a psychologist in Child Behaviors and studies. My father has a very good paying career, so I don't need a job for the time being."

Asami walked out the building from her last class of the day and saw Izumi. She was going to catch up to her, but then she saw Kouji. She smiled and let them be as they were. She walked back to her dormitory to complete her work. She didn't want to be an obvious third wheel.

Izumi and Kouji began walking around the sidewalk. They walked around and sat on a bench. "Kouji, so is everything okay?"

"Well I guess, I haven't changed much."

"Sure you have, you look a little different, I'm glad I'm back here in Jiyuugaoka," Izumi said, smiling.

Kouji stared at her.

"During the whole seven years I was pretty alone because everyone gets the wrong idea of my when I remain quiet. They don't bother to associate with me because I'm different. Just because I spent some time in another country isn't a reason to treat me differently. Many girls think I'm conceited because I don't talk a lot on the first days in new places. As for guys, well they only like me for the way I look, and do not see to it to the real me. But now, I have my real friends here in Jiyuugaoka. And I'm glad to be back here where there are some people who appreciate me for who I am."

Kouji stared at her, listening carefully to her story.

"Izumi, I understand," he finally said. "Practically no one understands me. My father is too busy on business trips most of the time, and my stepmother is very outgoing ninety percent of the time. My brother seems to make more friends than I will in a lifetime. Because of my father moving from place to place, I usually changed schools and didn't care if I didn't make many friends. But then we finally settled here in Jiyuugaoka. I still didn't make any friends. But, I learned how to cope with it and not care. I also think that 'friends' get in the way, but I learned the hard way that they aren't. But I still wish to be alone and enjoy the solitude around me. And not a lot of people understand that."

Izumi just looked intently at him. "Wow… I never knew someone so cold-hearted like Kouji could open up like this…" she thought.

"Kouji," she said, putting her hand on his, "Just remember, I understand."

She smiled, then let go.

Kouji blushed but then stood up.

"Izumi, I need to go to work now," Kouji said, holding his backpack over his shoulder and his other hand in his pocket and left. Izumi remained sitting on the bench where they had talked.

"Kouji…" Izumi thought. "We both have the same experiences… wait, didn't he say he didn't have work for five hours? Strange."

She got up and walked back to her dormitory. When she got back, she went to her room and turned her laptop on. Then she heard a knock on the door. "Come in," Izumi said,

"Izumi, how was class?"

"It was sort of boring all I did was take a lot of notes. Also something interesting happened in my Biology class."

"What?"

"Well, Kouji and I are in the same class, and the sensei in that class is so strict on talking. Most professors don't care if you talk."

"Well, he's old, most likely."

"I guess you're right."

"By the way, since vacation starts after tomorrow, there won't be much to do on last days, except chat, so you don't have to go, if you don't want to."

"I guess I should go home for Christmas."

"Yeah, hey look, it's snowing, Izumi," Asami said, looking out the window.

"Wow, its beautiful… reminds me of Iwate-san Mountains and Kou— uhh… I mean I love snow!" Izumi said, looking out the window.

Asami smiled. "They really belong together, and yet they don't know…" she thought.

"You know, I think I'll go home tonight, Asami."

"You need help?"

"Well, not really. You've done enough for me already. Here is the thing I've been keeping and taking very good care of for you and I want you to have it back," Izumi handed the silver chain necklace to her.

"This reminded me that I had friends who liked me for whom I really was…" smiling, and hugged Asami.

Asami was shocked started crying, and said "Thank you... Izumi,"

"I guess I should be going," Izumi said, and reached into the closet to get a white scarf. "Well, I'll see you after vacation, Asami," and walked down the hallway.

"Izumi!" Asami called from the hallway.

"Yes?"

"Here's my home phone number. Give me a call on Christmas."

"I will," Izumi said, smiling. She walked down the hallway and to her car. Asami stood in the hallway, smiling serenely, still holding the silver chain in her hands. "Thank you… Orimoto Izumi…" and walked back to her room.

Izumi walked outside, her shoes making noise with every step. She turned a corner and rammed into someone, dropping her bag on the ground.

"Ung!" she said and looked up. It was Minamoto Kouji.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Izumi," he said, and picked up her bag.

Izumi looked up and said, "It's quite all right, Kouji,"

"Well, here's your bag, Izumi," he said quietly and handed it to her.

"Thanks."

Kouji slowly walked right by her, but then she said,

"Kouji… are you doing anything on Christmas?"

"I'm going to work… but that's it."

"That's it? No time with family?"

"I guess…"

"Well that's not proper!"

"They have other affairs to attend to and I really have to pay off college loans, so it's okay, Izumi," he said and walked away.

Izumi stood there with her hand in the air then put it down. "Kouji… you're even alone at a time like this. I wish I could do something for you," she thought, staring at him walk away.

Izumi walked to her car and drove home. Kouji walked back to his dorm, but didn't go inside. Instead he stayed in the hallway. He leaned against the door of his dorm. "Izumi…" he thought. Then Tama opened the door, book in hand.

"Hey," Tama said.

"Hi," Kouji said, not bothering to look up and reached into the refrigerator for some beer and sat next to Tama.

"Kouji, what are doing?"

"Nothing."

"Hey, don't drink too much of that."

"I won't."

Kouji didn't care and drank three cans. Tama looked up from his book and said, "Hey Kouji, that's enough. Alcohol ruins your liver you know. You taught me that I can't escape life by drinking, so quit it."

Kouji looked at him dizzily. "O-hey-y-y… Tama… when did you get here?"

"Kouji stop drinking!"

"I … I miss her…" he said.

"Huh? Miss who?"

"Orimoto Izumi…"

"Izumi? Is that whom the hat that you always carry belongs to?"

"Uh-huh…" Kouji said again, slightly drunk. Then slammed his head on the table with his eyes closed. "Oww…" Kouji said quietly and resumed sleeping.

"Kouji, stop this! It's not like you to go off and drink!"

"Yes it is…" he said, still eyes closed.

"If she really means so much to you, why don't you?"

"I can't."

"Why?"

"I'm scared."

"Well, try at least!"

"I don't want to…"

"You're stubborn. I'm throwing the alcohol in the trash."

Tama got up and took the remaining bottles and emptied them in the sink, leaving Kouji in his soberness. He took his books and studied in his room since Kouji was lying all over the table. He woke up Kouji woke up the next morning. Kouji woke up, holding his head lying on the table and saw Tama eating cereal from the couch.

"Huh? What… I don't remember sleeping here…"

"You were slightly intoxicated last night."

"I was? Why?"

"Because you are yearning for someone that I don't know."

"Uhh.. I'm not!" Kouji said, getting red in the face. He simply got up and went to the bathroom and washed his face.

It was eleven thirty and he remembered that he told Mr. Yasuyuki he could come in around noon.

"Crud, my head hurts. I don't feel like going. But if I still want to go school here, I have to…" he thought, then grabbed his bandanna and car keys and left. Kouji drove to Jiyuugaoka Coffee shop and resumed work like he always did. Izumi went home and did practically nothing except watch television and help her mother cook dinner. A couple of her mother's old friends visited, so Izumi was left with nothing to do. And her mother was too busy becoming reacquainted with old friends. It was around eight o'clock and Izumi decided to see if Kouji was still at work. It was snowing. Izumi grabbed her fuchsia trench coat and white scarf and gloves, ran out the door and drove off. Kouji was almost about to leave work and hung his apron. He sighed, thinking of his monotonous life as if it was going nowhere. Izumi parked and walked outside. Kouji walked outside with his regular blue snow gear jacket he had wore at Iwate-san Mountains. Of course it wouldn't fit him till now, so he had a bigger size. He stood outside, staring at the snow on the sidewalk. Izumi walked through the parking lot and noticed a familiar figure. It was Kouji. Izumi slowly walked to him and stopped. Kouji, as usual thought it was some pedestrian and didn't bother turning around. But Izumi slightly tapped him on the shoulder. Kouji spun around. It was Izumi.

"Merry Christmas, Kouji," she said to him cheerfully while smiling.

Kouji blushed and said squeakily, "You too, Izumi."

"Would you like to walk around?"

"I guess so."

"After what you told me yesterday about being alone at a time like this, I felt really bad for you and I wanted to return the favor after saving my life seven years ago."

"Think nothing of it," Kouji said silently, looking at the snowy ground.

"How is Jiyuugaoka?" he asked, trying to think of something although he had asked her that twice previously.

"It's a lot better than Venice. At least you're here."

Kouji blushed. He really didn't have much to say. They walked quietly, enjoying the snow slowly drifting down. While walking, Izumi tripped on a raised sidewalk ledge and fell onto the snow. It both reminded them of Iwate-san Mountains. Kouji let his hand out. Izumi stared at it. It looked exactly back as it was at Iwate-san Mountains. "C'mon, or do you want to stay there?" Kouji asked, getting impatient. Izumi accepted and put her hand on his. He pulled her up from the snow and put his hands back in his pocket. They again didn't say anything, but Kouji decided to talk.

"Izumi," he said quietly.

"Yes?"

"I'd like to know, but why did you come to visit me at work?"

"I already told you why I'm here," she thought, but immediately stared at the snow. She blushed just staring at it. She finally looked up and said, "Kouji, I missed you. I missed you throughout all these years. All I really wanted was to be back here in Jiyuugaoka. Now that you know, you probably don't care much." Izumi said slowly then looked away.

"Izumi, I— I didn't know. Izumi, I've missed you all these years too. It's… I'm sorry. I'm not good at things like this. I mean I don't want to express my feelings. You were the closest thing I had to a real friend. At first, I thought you were a pushover when I first met you, but then I noticed your inner beauty. And I learned from you that I have too much to live for to not always hide in the corner all the time." He said, and slowly gave her a warm, embracing hug. Izumi was shocked but hugged him back. The snow floated slowly around them and the breeze blew softly. Izumi was overjoyed. She started tearing, but this time it was happy tears. Kouji wiped her tears with his hand and stared at her. Izumi wiped her remaining tears and gazed at him. Kouji gazed back. Their faces drew closer and closer and finally shared a loving kiss. Izumi had a tear in her eye and remained there, hugging Kouji.

"I love you… Kouji-kun…" Izumi said softly.

Kouji couldn't bring himself to say it, and only hugged her back tighter. Izumi and Kouji remained there, cherishing this experience.

Minamoto Kouji and Orimoto Izumi both earned their credentials after three years of hard work and study, gaining their good careers. After two years graduated from college, it took all of Kouji's courage to pop her the question. Izumi blissfully said "Yes" and they both became married. Ichiyusai Asami and Fuyutsuki Tama were together, thanks to Kouji and Izumi who played matchmaker to put them together. They were also both Kouji and Izumi's best friends. As for Izumi, she was happier than she had ever been in a long time. As for Kouji, he was still the introverted and quiet person he was, but he opened up, which helped him to become content and not conceal himself all the time. For Miyamoto, well, she ended up in the dumps. And as it came, all four of them both had something. True happiness. Kouji and Izumi always…

**_The End_**


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